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Make a Difference in Your Community

My Village

MY VILLAGE is a place for teens to connect, make friends, be themselves without pressure, and participate in workshops that help them deal with the stresses of everyday life.

Event Update:

The August 24 My Village workshop has been cancelled.

About My Village Workshop

MY VILLAGE is a place for teens to connect, make friends, be themselves without pressure, and participate in workshops that help them deal with the stresses of everyday life. When selecting workshops, please consider carefully if this is the right fit for you or your child.

Participants in MY VILLAGE must be able to participate and follow instructions independently. No student will be turned away due to finances please ask us about sponsorship/scholarship.

Each workshop will be limited to 15 students.

Download 2025 My Village Flyer
Rules and Guidelines

A SAFE SPACE FOR TEENS TO CONNECT, GROW, AND THRIVE

Our Speciality Workshops

Equine Workshop

Equine learning sessions will be ground based (non-riding). It will have experiential learning activities in a setting with human and equine interactions guided by equine specialist and volunteers. Through these interactions, we will learn life skills such as trust, honestly, connection, communication, self-regulation and self-confidence. We will all become strong,
more confident, courageous and independent as we spend this time with the horses.

Wellness Workshop

Each month will be a workshop that focuses on connections and mood management through exercises focusing on 5 senses, games, play, and conversation. Each time students will walk away with resources and tools to lean into strengths.

Art Workshop

Equine learning sessions will be ground based (non-riding). It will have experiential learning activities in a setting with human and equine interactions guided by equine specialist and volunteers. Through these interactions, we will learn life skills such as trust, honestly, connection, communication, self-regulation and self-confidence. We will all become strong,
more confident, courageous and independent as we spend this time with the horses.

Meet the Instructor

Come Learn the art of drawing with Sirrka Fullerton. Sirrka Fullerton is a professional Western Artist
who has over 60 years of experience. She has done many different mediums from acrylics, charcoal, and pen/ink. She has won many awards for her art on the West Coast where she was born and raised. Her expertise has been in horse art. Mikayla O’Neill will also be one of our Art Workshop providers who became Zentangle certified which is a mindfulness art form and will be here for the August 25, 2024 My Village event. Mikayla Honor O’Neill is a freelance artist originally from West Virginia and now resides in Chicago, IL to pursue a more diverse range of art. She currently works as an assistant clinician in a therapeutics program for children with learning disabilities. She graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Design/Technology concentrating in costume design and construction. Her love for art grows in many ways like using it to promote advocacy in suicide prevention by being the Creative Director for the Brian ONeill Jr Foundation based in West Virginia. She was recently accepted into Adler University to pursue her Masters in Art Therapy: Counseling. She hopes to continue to create things that spark joy.

Music Workshop

Music is a powerful tool for hope, healing, and change! Come join us as we explore our greatest strengths and resources through a group drumming workshop and other live music therapy experientials. Together, we will find a place to connect, explore our unique abilities, build resilience, and share our hopes and dreams for the future. No music experience is necessary to participate in music therapy sessions, all are welcome in the circle, and we can’t wait to see you there!

Meet the Instructor

Erin Bonham, MMT, MT-BC is a board certified music therapist who received her BS in Psychology from Walden University and Master of Music Therapy from Shenandoah University.
Erin has served as an adjunct assistant professor and acute inpatient behavioral health practicum supervisor for Shenandoah University. Currently, she is a full time music therapist on WVU Berkeley Medical Center’s Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit and Crisis Stabilization and Recovery Center where her practice focuses on hope and healing through clincal and evidence-
based music therapy interventions that support mental health, brain health, and the human experience.

Aerial Yoga Workshop

Aerial allows you to be you, to express yourself whether you choose to float or fly. The strong, supportive fabric offers you the opportunity to move in any way you choose, building confidence and promoting body positivity. Moving or restoring in the swing can provide a deep sensory experience and an opening for you to connect with your body. With aerial, the possibilities are boundless.

Meet the Instructors

Bo Bowman is a retired ER physician who now owns and operates Studio214, a yoga and aerial studio in downtown Martinsburg. Bo facilitates numerous styles of yoga classes with a focus on Trauma Sensitive Yoga, including volunteering with the Prison Yoga Project, children and teens, and yoga for recovery. Her lived experiences allow her to bring a deeper understanding of the empowerment of movement and the resiliency of the human body.

Jeremy Speer, MSW, LGSW is a child/adult therapist with WVU Medicine and facilitator for the Health Sciences Center Eastern Division at reducing stigma of substance use disorder. As a social worker, Mr. Speer has worked as a therapist with children/adolescents in residential treatment and as the WVU MSW extended campus coordinator in Martinsburg and Keyser, WV. Mr. Speer is U.S. Navy veteran, serving tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He has completed the 200-hour yoga
instructor training. Over the last several years, Mr. Speer has conducted numerous presentations throughout West Virginia addressing the topics of trauma, trauma informed care, ACEs sciences, Military Culture, Social Work Ethics, mindfulness, and burnout/compassion fatigue.

My Village Registraton

Select a Date
Date Attending
Please Select 3 Workshops*
Please Select 3 Workshops*

Waiver & Parent/Guardian Permission

My Village was created to provide resiliency and strength building skills for teens in middle and high school (ages 12-18). Each workshop has been designed to promote connections with other peers and trusted adults and give teens tools to help manage big emotions of anger, anxiety, sadness, and stress. The workshops are being provided by community individuals and professionals that bring years of experience. Each workshop has been created to provide youth empowerment, strength building, connections, skills to help them build resiliency and tools to manage emotions and stress. Parent/Guardian permission is required for participation.

MY VILLAGE goal is to provide a safe inclusive environment for all participants. The Brian ONeill Jr Foundation will make every effort to ensure the safety of each participant and individual. At the same time, we expect that each participant/individual will show respect to the property, providers, volunteers, and their peers while participating in the workshops.

MY VILLAGE is not a replacement for therapy or counseling, but discussions may take place related to personal stories and experiences. It is important that personal stories shared in the workshops are not shared outside of the workshop. We will have trained adults available if a participant or individual needs extra support. If an individual or participant shares information that indicates, they are at risk for harm to themselves or others this information will be reported to the parent or guardian. It is the guardian’s responsibility to reach out to MY VILLAGE staff to discuss any special needs that may impact participation and ability to engage without becoming a distraction or danger to self or others.

Release and Waiver

I have read (or had read to me) the contents of this waiver/permission form and been given the opportunity to ask questions and to receive answers. I hereby release and discharge The Brian ONeill Jr Foundation and its directors, officers, employees, affiliates, members, agents, volunteers, and representatives, of and from all liability for any claims, demands, losses or damages, incurred by me or my child in connection with any aspect of this event. I further authorize and consent to the use of any materials, whether by videotape, film, newsprint, written advertisement, or otherwise, containing mine or my child’s name or picture, and I release The Brian ONeill Jr Foundation and its directors, officers, employees, affiliates, members, agents, volunteers and representatives from any claims I might have due to initial or subsequent publication of any such materials.
If you do not want your child's picture, video, or voice used, please check here

Acknowledgment

By entering your child's name and your full name below, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions above and you are agreeing for them to participate in My Village hosted by the Brian O'Neill Foundation.

A 25$ Donation is requested to attend My Village, but no child will be turned away for financial reasons. Please select request sponsorship if financial assistance is needed

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Donation Options

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