Healing Our Kids & Community: How Carson Tahoe Health is Driving Change for Nevada’s Youth

It’s a warm summer morning at the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada, and the parking lot is alive with energy. A brightly colored van painted with playful designs has just pulled in. Kids gather with wide eyes and curious smiles as Carson Tahoe Health’s Vehicle of Change opens its doors. Inside: a world of art, music, games, and discovery—a safe space where healing begins with play.

This is the heart of Healing Our Kids & Community, a bold, transformative initiative from Carson Tahoe Health. It’s more than a program; it’s a movement—one that’s taking Nevada’s youth mental health crisis head-on and rewriting the story for our children and families.

Nevada currently ranks last in the nation for youth mental health services, according to Mental Health America. It’s a sobering statistic, and one Carson Tahoe refuses to accept as the status quo. In response, the organization launched Healing Our Kids & Community, a holistic, community-powered initiative designed to provide accessible, innovative, and compassionate mental health support to children and families.

At the core of this initiative is a belief: mental health care should not only be available—it should be welcoming, stigma-free, and designed with kids in mind.

To bring this vision to life, Carson Tahoe introduced the Vehicles of Change (CTV)—four mobile outreach units uniquely themed around Food, Play, Sound, and Art. These aren’t just vans; they’re classrooms on wheels, each one packed with evidence-informed, play-based tools for healing.

Activities range from:

• Art Projects & Role Assignments – to build identity and self-expression
• Puzzle Races, Relay Games & Cornhole – to encourage problem solving and teamwork
• Drum Circles & Breathing Exercises – to teach mindfulness and stress relief
• Healthy Eating Demos – to connect physical health with mental wellness

And it’s not just the kids benefiting. Parents and caregivers receive tools, resources, and workshops to continue the healing at home. Because when it comes to mental health, families need support too.

A Pilot That Proved the Power of Play

From June to August 2025, the CTVs partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada for a pilot program that reached over 200 children. The impact was immediate and powerful.

Through activities like Frisbee golf, Jenga, breathwork, and art therapy, children engaged in vital emotional learning: developing confidence, practicing mindfulness, learning how to manage distress, and forming real, meaningful connections.

The results?

• 30% of participants cited “connection” as the most valuable part—building bonds with peers, facilitators, and even with themselves.
• 21% appreciated the hands-on, engaging nature of the sessions.
• 18% emphasized teamwork, and 12% described the experience as authentic and unlike anything they had ever done before.

These weren’t just activities—they were lifelines, disguised as fun.

The Vehicles of Change travel across Carson Tahoe’s quad-county service area, ensuring that even the most underserved communities have access to youth mental health resources—completely free of charge. Whether at schools, parks, after-school programs, or family events, the CTVs are making mental wellness visible, accessible, and joyful.

But to keep these vehicles rolling, community support is essential.

Fuel the Future: Raffle for a Cause

To help sustain and expand this vital initiative, Carson Tahoe Health is hosting a community raffle—and it’s one worth getting excited about.

Here’s how you can help:

• Tickets are just $10 each, or 6 for $50
• Grand prizes include $15,000 cash OR a 2025 Toyota Corolla
• Drawing held live on November 6 at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center

All proceeds go directly to supporting Healing Our Kids & Community and the Vehicles of Change program. Every ticket purchased helps bring transformative mental health experiences to more kids across Nevada.

Visit HealingOurKids.org  to get your tickets and learn more.

A Vision for the Future

Carson Tahoe’s vision doesn’t stop here. With a scalable model and growing community support, the goal is to expand Healing Our Kids & Community throughout the state—and eventually across the nation. This is a sustainable, inclusive, and deeply human approach to mental wellness—one that meets children where they are, emotionally and physically.

Because healing doesn’t always happen in clinics. Sometimes, it begins in a van full of drums and paintbrushes, with a kind facilitator saying, “You’re safe here. Let’s play.”

Together, we can change the story for Nevada’s kids—one connection, one breath, one game at a time.

Because we believe in better.