Living with a chronic illness can feel lonely and uncertain at times. As if no matter how hard you try, people in your life just can’t understand what living with a chronic illness is like. At Next Step, you’re not alone.
We believe that the best environment for teens and young adults to develop the skills and knowledge they need to prepare themselves for adulthood is with and from other young people living with a chronic illness who get what they are going through.
“I began to make friends. I knew right away that these people would always be there for me no matter what, and I was right!”
Often, you will learn the most important life lessons from your Next Step peers. Maybe it’s how they handled a medical procedure or a technique they use to better advocate for themselves. You can trust the skills you learn and the knowledge you gain in our community.
You’re free to be your true self in our completely judgement-free community. You’ll be in a safe space to share your story and be you. Most importantly, you will have lots of fun and share laughter with peers who are facing similar challenges as you. At Next Step, you can:
- Meet new friends
- Create fun, life-changing moments
- Engage in conversations that matter
- Empower yourself with information and resources
Sounds good?! Join one of our community programs:
Campference
A Campference is what you get if you combine the fun and community-aspects of a camp with the educational and interactive workshops of a conference. Next Step Campferences are multi-day residential programs that focus on building community through fun games and activities, learning from educational workshops informed by your peers, making music, and participating in other expressive arts.
Are you a young person searching for a community where you can have lots of fun and be with people who truly understand your life experiences? Click here to learn more about our free Campference program and how you can join one.
Guide to Adulting Series
Guide to Adulting is an online workshop series where we come together as a community and learn from experts — partner organizations and our community members — about all the tips and tricks to adulting while living with a chronic illness, from navigating dating and relationships to applying for social security benefits.
Are you a young person looking for adulting tips and skills to help you along the way? Click here to learn more about our free Guide to Adulting Series and how you can join one.
Next Step Mobile
Our Next Step Mobile program is just what it sounds like. Our program team takes the magic of our programming on the road to young people at hospitals and healthcare centers around the northeast. We offer fun community building games and activities to educational workshops about topics that matter to young people, like advocacy, self-confidence, and medical transition. We can even help you host your program.
Are you a medical provider or social worker? Click here to learn how we can bring our Next Step Mobile program to your hospital or clinic.
QUESTIONS?
Contact us if you have any questions or want to get involved in one of our community programs.
Casey Casey, Next Step Partnership Coordinator & Nursing Director: casey@nextstepnet.org
Kepler Jeudy, Next Step Program Director: kepler@nextstepnet.org
Next Step Office: 617.864.2921
Click here to watch young people people talk about their Next Step experience.
