Youth Empowerment Radio

Season 3, Episode 8 - (Part 2): Luke Mickelson on Child Bedlessness & Taking Tiny Moments to Action

Youth Empowerment Radio S3E8 (Part 2): Luke Mickelson on Child Bedlessness & Taking Tiny Moments to Action Host Carmen continues her conversation with Luke Mickelson, founder of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, about child bedlessness, its ripple effects on health and life outcomes, and why the issue is often invisible. Luke explains how local SHP chapters operate like a franchise model: sponsors donate about $300 per bed (including mattress, bedding, and delivery), volunteers build beds in an assembly-line process, and teams deliver and assemble beds in homes for children ages 3–17 who don’t already have a bed. They discuss demand outpacing supply, common circumstances behind requests (house fires, foster care, single parents, and grandparents taking in grandchildren), and Luke’s “Tiny Moments” framework—see it, feel it, act on it, repeat it, share it—to build a stronger desire to act and create community change. 00:00 Welcome Back and Setup 00:56 Why Beds Matter for Kids 01:17 Juvenile Detention Wake Up Call 02:44 Ripple Effects of Poor Sleep 03:25 How a Chapter Works 04:12 Sponsors and Build Days 05:54 Volunteer Experience Gold Nuggets 07:42 Applying and Prioritizing Need 09:33 Delivering Beds and Reactions 11:45 Ownership and Community Love 12:37 Small Moments Create Change 13:14 Why Bedlessness Is Invisible 15:04 How Big Is Bedlessness 16:19 Why No Bed Charities 17:49 Hardship Has No Labels 19:09 Top Reasons Families Apply 20:19 Grandparents Step In 22:31 Tiny Moments To Action 25:07 Practice Serving Daily 27:07 Get Involved And Connect 29:21 Closing Thanks And Impact

Season 3, Episode 7 - (Part 1) From a Farm Kid to 400,000 Beds: Luke Mickelson’s Sleep in Heavenly Peace Origin Story

From a Farm Kid to 400,000 Beds: Luke Mickelson’s Sleep in Heavenly Peace Origin Story | Youth Empowerment Radio S3E7 (Part 1) Host Carmen interviews Luke Mickelson, founder of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit that builds and delivers beds to children. Luke shares his background growing up in a small Idaho town, lessons about community service, and a personal period of doubt that shifted his view of success. As a church youth leader in 2012, he learned of children in his town sleeping on the floor, built a bunk bed with local boys, and later built another with his own kids, discovering widespread need through a Facebook post. Delivering a bed to six-year-old Haley—who had been sleeping on a pile of clothes—became a turning point, inspiring a commitment to end child bedlessness locally and beyond. He explains SHP’s chapter model, volunteer-driven growth, and expansion to 470+ chapters in four countries with over 400,000 beds built. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:32 Luke’s Humble Roots 02:39 Small Town Community Values 03:51 Service Mindset and Life Lessons 06:09 Midlife Questions and Funk 08:02 Hearing About Kids Without Beds 09:37 Building the First Bunk Bed 11:11 Delivery Day and Community Impact 13:08 A Couch Moment Sparks More 14:41 Building Beds With His Kids 15:36 Now What to Do With It 15:59 Post Goes Viral 16:51 Haley’s Story 17:42 Inside an Empty Home 19:11 A Bed Changes Everything 20:35 Why Beds Mean Safety 24:21 From One Bed to Nonprofit 26:00 Mike Rowe Spotlight 27:09 How Chapters Scale Impact 29:14 Anyone Can Start One

Season 3, Episode 6 - Part 2 Youth Leadership in Action: Building Connection and Systems Change with Youth MOVE Nevada

Youth Leadership in Action: Building Connection and Systems Change with Youth MOVE Nevada Host Carmen continues her conversation with Brenna, youth leader of Youth MOVE Nevada, focusing on Nevada’s rural isolation, lack of community connection, and the importance of social connection for health and healing. Brenna describes chapter challenges such as reaching rural youth and increasing awareness that youth voices are welcome, and explains how virtual meetings support statewide inclusion. She outlines multiple engagement pathways for youth—decision-making in meetings, polls and chat participation, podcast and social media contributions, toolkits, contests, and youth panels—within a peer-led model that builds leadership. Brenna shares experiences bringing youth voice into systems-level meetings, noting receptivity but sometimes limited dialogue, and highlights the Youth Voice at Agency Level assessment/training, work with UNR on system-of-care data collection and youth focus groups, and her role with a Nevada Medicaid behavioral health transformation workgroup shaping care coordination improvements. She is excited about continued chapter growth and directs listeners to YouthMoveNV and YouthMoveNV@nevadapep.org. 00:00 Welcome Back Part Two 00:34 Nevada Rural Isolation 01:22 Why Connection Matters 04:51 Reaching Rural Youth 06:46 Everyday Youth Engagement 12:05 Youth Led Meetings 13:27 Youth Voice In Systems 16:22 YVAL And UNR Partnership 21:26 Medicaid Summit Impact 26:08 Future Growth And Contact 28:13 Final Thanks And Wrap

Season 3, Episode 5 - Part 1 with Youth Move Nevada’s Brenna on Youth Advocacy, Mental Health Challenges, and Youth Voice

Youth Move Nevada’s Brenna on Youth Advocacy, Mental Health Challenges, and System-Level Youth Voice Host Carmen interviews Brenna, team facilitator and youth leader with Youth Move Nevada, about her path from working at Nevada PEP to youth advocacy, including how learning about disabilities led her to seek an ADHD evaluation and feel empowered by diagnosis and self-advocacy. Brenna explains Youth Move Nevada’s origins as a youth-voice program under Nevada PEP, its autonomy, and its goals: building youth self-advocacy skills, empowering youth-led change, and reducing stigma around mental health and disabilities for ages 14–24 statewide. They discuss Nevada’s mental health challenges, including ranking 51st, provider shortages, limited community-based services that can force out-of-state treatment, rural/frontier access barriers, siloed systems, and gaps in awareness, alongside a reported 2% state suicide-rate reduction. Brenna describes youth engagement methods (virtual meetings, polls, podcasts, social media, contests, panels) and system advocacy using the Youth Voice at Agency Level tool, work with UNR on needs assessments, and Medicaid workgroups shaping care coordination. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:04 Brenna Story and Lived Experience 04:23 ADHD Diagnosis and Empowerment 09:04 Youth Move Nevada Origins 12:05 Host Org and Autonomy 19:45 Who Can Join Youth Move 21:52 Mission and Core Goals 24:13 Nevada Mental Health Crisis 27:19 Rural Access and Out of State Care 33:31 Siloed Systems and Awareness Gaps 35:28 National Youth Mental Health Context 37:31 Why Nevada Ranks Last 38:23 Rural Frontier Reality 41:17 Isolation and Loneliness 45:15 Reaching Rural Youth 47:41 Everyday Youth Engagement 54:46 Youth Voice in Systems 57:33 YVAL and UNR Partnership 01:03:22 Medicaid Summit Impact 01:08:39 Chapter Growth and Contact

Season 3, Episode 4 - Real Talk Mental Health Support Group at Oaktree Youth Resources

Youth Empowerment Radio S3E4: Real Talk Mental Health Support Group at Oaktree Youth Resources In Season 3, Episode 4 of Youth Empowerment Radio, interns Brooke and Berkeley from Oaktree Youth Resources describe Real Talk, a weekly mental health support group held every Tuesday from 4–5 PM. They explain that the group aims to provide a safe, supportive, consistent space where youth can share successes and challenges, seek advice, or simply connect without having to talk. The episode covers topics and activities used in meetings—such as trust, boundaries, sobriety, group-building games, and planned crafts—plus engagement strategies like hands-on activities, food, easy opening questions, and potential pro-social events. They discuss how supportive peer communities encourage accountability and healthier choices, barriers like not knowing where to find support and lack of trust, ways to create inclusive spaces through group norms and consent to share, and long-term benefits such as reduced isolation, increased confidence, goal achievement, and improved wellbeing. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:45 What Real Talk Is 01:23 Meeting Activities and Topics 01:59 Keeping Youth Engaged 03:09 How the Group Is Going 03:54 Peer Support and Accountability 05:06 Barriers to Seeking Help 06:44 Creating Inclusive Safe Spaces 07:51 Long Term Mental Health Benefits 09:08 Thanks and Weekly Invite So many mental health struggles grow stronger in isolation. Having a space—or even just one person—to turn to—can make all the difference in breaking that cycle. Thank you to Brooke and Burkley at Oak Tree Resources for creating that space. Join Real Talk every Tuesday from 4:00–5:00 PM. You don’t have to go through it alone.