ANCHOR

 

ANCHOR - School Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP) is a New Jersey Department of Children and Families initiative and operated by Great Joy Community Development Corporation in partnership with Millville Public School District.

ANCHOR provides the Access, Navigation, Care, Healing, Opportunity, and Resilience framework through The Nest, a safe, nurturing, school-based wellness center designed to support students’ mental health, development, and protective factors. ANCHOR: The Nest is a school-based wellness and support center designed to be a safe place where students can land, grow, and thrive through a trauma-informed, prevention-focused approach. By connecting students and families to mental health support, skill-building, and coordinated services, The Nest strengthens protective factors, builds resilience, and promotes emotional well-being, academic engagement, and positive youth development. By meeting students where they are and surrounding them with consistent, caring support, ANCHOR: The Nest helps young people stabilize, develop healthy coping skills, and move forward with confidence.

Services are delivered on-site during the school day and are accessible, confidential, and culturally responsive—reducing barriers to care and meeting students where they are. We utilize a strengths-based, trauma-informed, and youth-centered approach that honors each student’s lived experience while fostering emotional regulation, self-awareness, and healthy decision-making. Equity, dignity, and inclusion remain central to our work, recognizing the unique social and environmental factors that shape adolescent development. Services are provided at no cost to families and are funded through the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.