KareKit

Kare Kit delivers care packages and mental health education to adolescents in residential treatment.

Kare Kit is a youth-founded, Santa Clara County–based nonprofit providing care packages and community education for adolescents in mental health treatment.

We started with a simple observation: 1 in 5 adolescents lives with a mental health condition, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, psychotic disorders, yet these are among the most stigmatized and least-discussed challenges young people face. Teens in residential facilities are already navigating something difficult, away from friends, away from routines, and the weigh of isolation. We aim to close that gap between the community outside and the teenager inside.

We work through the ACE Approach:

Awareness — We educate communities about the reality of adolescent mental health: how common these conditions are, how deeply they affect young people, and why the silence around them causes as much harm as the conditions themselves.

Connection — We bring together volunteers, schools, summer programs, and community organizations to participate in mental health initiatives. Kit assembly events, mental health education workshops, and therapeutic arts activities are just some ways that community members get involved.

Encouragement — We assemble and deliver care packages directly to adolescents in residential mental health and recovery facilities. Each kit contains a personalized journal, stuffed animal, diamond art kit, blanket, handmade bookmark, and Pinch Me Therapy Dough.