The Oxford dictionary defines resiliency as the capacity “to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties.”
“Some people are more resilient than others, but resiliency is a skill you can learn,” said Rebecca Best, executive director of Resilient Communities of East Georgia, which offers a program for middle and high school students designed to give them the tools they need to face life’s challenges and bounce back.
The local organization covers 14 Georgia counties, and the spring cohort will begin in January.
The program utilizes a near-peer mentor concept, teaming the enrolled pre-teens and teens with Medical College of Georgia students.
The near-peer mentor is a medical student. It isn’t Mom, or a teacher, but someone who becomes a trusted adult. We know that one trusted adult in a child’s life can change their trajectory,” she said.
The program focuses on topics such as conflict resolution, developing healthy relationships, finding purpose and goal setting and achieving better self-awareness.
Often program participants take what they’ve learned and pass it on to their friends, helping them develop resilience, Best said.
Resilient Teens has expanded in recent months.
“When we started out, we were targeting high school teens, but we really started this year focusing on more middle school students and getting coping skills taught earlier,” she said.
Each cohort is eight weeks long, and students who complete the program not only gain valuable skills, but they will receive $100.
“Teens love it. Some come back for multiple sessions,” she said.
In August, the organization held its first all-day summit, which was sold out. Best hopes to move to a different location next year to allow for more participants.
Orientation will be Jan. 26, 2026 with the weekly sessions beginning online Feb. 2, 2026.
To learn more or sign up, go here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named Augusta Magazine’s best local writer in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
