Nonprofit STRYV365’s trauma-informed programming shows results, MCW finds

A Milwaukee nonprofit that helps kids build resilience and coping skills through educational and athletic programming plans to expand its work.

STRYV365 worked with the Medical College of Wisconsin to evaluate two of its non-clinical, trauma-informed programs: Brain Agents, a video game that combines an action-adventure storyline with well-being and emotional-learning exercises, and Peak Team, a coaching-and-mentoring program.

“We’re facing a major crisis in regards to toxic stress,” STRYV365 CEO Brandon Currie said during a presentation earlier this month. “We keep hearing about trauma, trauma, trauma. And at some point it gets to a point where you say, ‘What are we going to do about it?’”

MCW researchers led a study on the impacts of the two programs that involved 1,600-plus kids at four Milwaukee-area schools.

Dr. John Meurer, MCW professor of community health and general pediatrics, said their evaluation showed the programs’ potential for improving social-emotional outcomes in kids facing adversity.

“STRYV365’s combination of physical activity, which gets the kids moving and having fun — really an important component of this unique approach — and the coaching and the digital gaming together offers something that could be scaled up,” he said.

Currie said they’re hoping to work with more schools.

“This is just a start,” Currie said. “We have to continue to evolve and get better.”

This article first appeared in the Wisconsin Health News daily email newsletter. Sign up for your free trial here.