Licensed Professional Counselor Jacqueline Robinson shares five ways that you can keep your mental health in check. These easy steps will help make sure that you and your loved ones are can care and support each other.
Our hearts are broken by the events of the last few days. We struggle to make little sense of the tragic and unnecessary deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the many other stories told and untold.
In tragedy, we are reminded of the value of all humans. That each person deserves the opportunity to flourish. An opportunity that entire generations and communities are prevented from accessing.
We now must face the challenge of who we will be in light of the struggles of those around us. How will we respond to these systemic barriers? How will we address the injustices around us?
As an organization, we stand with the many communities who face these injustices. We are committed to listen, to learn, and most importantly, to act.
Yesterday we received no less than four video calls from different people working for a child in our care. Each reached out to meet a different need in the life of this child who has been thrust into an un-ideal situation. A child who may feel disconnected, abandoned, and unwanted.
For a child in foster care they will experience the generosity, the love, the care, and the effort of many people. A single kid in care could have come into contact with as many as a dozen individuals working for that child’s well-being. This could be a social worker, a receiving care family, foster parents, a lawyer, a judge, a CASA, biological parents, support services, a non-profit care worker, prospective adoptive parents, and even foster care support families. All of these are people ideally working for the betterment of the kid in care. Plain and simple, foster care is the best example of what it looks like when communities come together to meet a felt need.
Many of these individuals are seen but there are unseen forces all working towards the betterment and support of a kid in care. It is a broad acknowledgment that it takes the entire work of civil society to properly meet the needs of those around us. A unique understanding that while the government can do much to provide safety nets, it is only fully possible by the support of a community of people around it.
Why must so many come around this need for foster care? Because the issue is nuanced. Each child’s story is played out differently. Each child’s needs must be addressed at a human level. Their stories do not always fit on a spreadsheet or plan of action. Instead, the support systems that will lead to their success are best kept in the hands of those able to adapt and care.
There are so many stories and organizations at play to keep the system working the way intended.
Organizations like that of Connection Homes, who provide necessary mentoring and support to children experiencing brokenness.
Or that of Foster Care Alliance who respond to the needs of the many single mom’s dealing with issues keeping them from properly caring for their child. These mothers desire to do well for their children but lack the skills or understanding to do so.
And what about the foster family? Nearly 50 percent of foster parents quit within one year of taking on the role in the US. That is why organizations like Project 686 are working to support foster care families – giving resources necessary to carry on.
Then there are groups like Faithbridge Foster Care who meet the needs of the child by connecting local churches to local kids in the foster system. This ensures that the community connection of that child stays intact.
Four very different organizations, working toward one goal…wholeness of the child.
As we close out May and foster care awareness month in the US, we are reminded of the many people who voluntarily reach out to provide a holistic approach of restoring children. Individuals who are compelled purely by love to care for those around them. This often is in stark contrast to the selfish picture painted by some about society. The truth is there are millions willing to ensure that all people are taken care of. It is those who step up who show the true morality of its people and create strong communities.
We here at the Georgia Center for Opportunity have highlighted groups and individuals that have shown this compassion. Groups that identified a need and responded in kind. When we discuss civil society, these individuals come to mind. They show us what true morality looks like.
Licensed Professional Counselor, Diana Lleras gives her perspective on emotional health from the communities she serves. She also shares ways to identify unwanted emotions in family members and how you can create an environment that keeps you in an emotionally healthy place.
We continue our discussion with Licensed Professional therapist Osei Harvey. Osei shares how to take care of your personal well-being as you shelter in place.
The challenge of parenthood is to equip and empower your children for their next step in the journey of life. For foster parents, the challenge is the same but often within only a brief moment of time. As a foster parent, you have minimal control of your foster child’s next step of the journey, so you simply love them the best you can and then hope and pray it is enough.
This quote is from a foster parent my wife and I have the joy of working alongside. Neal and his wife, Jane, are my inspiration. As foster parents over 30 years, they have held and let go of literally hundreds of children in their care. Many of these children were medically fragile or drug-impacted. Most stayed for only a short window of time (often 6 months to a year) and, because of their age, they may not remember the love and care given to them in their early years.
Theirs is the story of so many foster parents, those who act not for self but for others. Parents that rise to the need of the community around them.
Two years ago, when our family set out on the journey of fostering, we were lucky enough to be surrounded by incredible people like Neal and Jane. People who loved unconditionally, knew the challenges we would face, and supported each other through the tough times.
I’m going to be honest with you: fostering is tough. It’s filled with broken people working within a broken system that often leads to uncontrollable outcomes. It’s frustrating. It’s sad. And yet, it is filled with some of the most amazing individuals and families.
These are people who are examples of how civil society meets felt need. People who care for the most fragile, not out of some external compelling force, but out of compassion.
As we focus this May on National Foster Care Month, let us look to people like Neal and Jane. People who give large chunks of their life to support people for merely a moment in time. Moments in time that lead to a life changed and instilled with opportunity and hope for a lifetime.
