Upopolis offers a secure online community that connects youth 13+ with others who are going through stressful life events. Upopolis programming aims to reduce social isolation while educating and empowering youth to actively manage and cope with their diagnosis, condition, or situation (grief, ill parent, or sibling).
Upopolis offers ongoing psychosocial care beyond a youth’s local community and access to a team of child life specialists who provide support before, during, and after treatment or other programs.
Youth join the Upopolis community through a referral from a professional (teacher, health care worker, etc.) or by completing a form for self-referral found on the youth page of Upopolis or posters. A member of the Upopolis team will help them get connected by having the youth attend a drop-in session to verify them and answer questions.
Youth have access to three types of programming as a part of Upopolis:
- Regular posts and content shared in the Upopolis online community.
- Game nights and skill-building workshops hosted virtually
- Diagnosis or situation-specific virtual meet-ups called Common Grounds
All programming is facilitated by a Certified Child Life Specialist on the Upopolis Team.
Common Grounds
Download a Common Grounds Poster with QR code and link for youth to express interest, print, and post in your organization. Common grounds events are held for Cystic Fibrosis, Scoliosis, Cancer, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Crohn’s , Youth of Adult Patients, and grief.
Upopolis CollateralÂ
Download Upopolis poster and the user pledge for all program.
Steps for a new referrer:
Ensure the youth meets the Upopolis criteria
Complete a paper copy of the Upopolis Pledge with the youth and their parent/guardian.
Storage of the pledge is the responsibility of the referrer, please refer to your centers’ policies.
New referrers complete pages 1, 3, and 4.
File the youths pledge or save the youth’s pledge according to your organization’s policies.
The referrer’s role is now complete. You will receive an email from the Upopolis team with information on making future referrals.
The Upopolis team will verify the referrer. Once this is complete the Upopolis team will generate the user key that will get sent directly to the email the youth provided (within 48 hours of the referral).
Once the youth activate their user key and set a password, they will gain access to Upopolis. The Upopolis team and the Upals (youth volunteers) will reach out to welcome the youth.
Steps for returning referrers:
Returning referrers bypass page one by clicking next and begin referral on page two with their Upopolis referral number and email.
For future referrals, the referrer will be given a reference number.
The referrer then inputs the information from the pledge form.
Once submitted, the Upopolis team will generate a user key, which will be sent as a link to the email provided by the youth within 48 hours.
When the youth activate their user key and set a password, they will gain access to Upopolis. The Upopolis team and the Upals (youth volunteers) will reach out to welcome the youth.
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