The Youth & Family Peer Support Alliance is looking for board members. “Our vision for the Alliance is that families and children who are experiencing emotional, behavioral, and/or mental health challenges can readily obtain the needed supports and services… for optimal mental health,” said Regina Crider, founding member and acting board Chair. The organization’s focus is on youth and families in Champaign County.
Basic board responsibilities include planning, fundraising, fiscal oversight, community outreach, and organizational performance monitoring. Go to here to apply.
Regina Crider uses the services of Laura Huth with do good Consulting to get the Alliance the funds, volunteers, and advocates it needs to get started. I spoke with both of these extraordinary women about the needs and goals of this new support group.
Smile Politely: How did you come up with this idea?
Regina Crider: The Youth & Family Peer Support Alliance came about through a series of events in my life. When I returned home to Rantoul in 1994 I could see there was a significant change in the community. Our schools were failing, and the youth impacted…had limited support and options to assist them with getting back on the right track. For several years I ran summer enrichment activities out of my church with the donations from a couple of civic groups and the church itself.
From there, I was afforded the opportunity to have a McNair Scholar from the School of Social Work conduct a study on the efforts we were making. What we discovered was that our efforts were noble, but not sustainable. If we wanted to see a greater impact, we needed to extend our intervention throughout the school year. I approached our school superintendent with this idea and, to my surprise, he signed on.
SP: And how have you been progressing?
Crider: We’ve been clicking along, working with youth and their parents in Rantoul City Schools for the last five years. During that time, Champaign County Mental Health Board and ACCESS Initiative entered into a cooperative agreement with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to provide high-fidelity Wraparound… youth-guided, family-driven, trauma-and-justice-informed care to African American youth who were being negatively impacted by the juvenile justice, child welfare, mental health, and education systems.
We received funding to provide mental screenings for the youth in our program. It’s a brief screening that asks about the student’s behavior, emotions, [and relationships] with other people… and it helps identify what needs they might have. During the time when I was applying for funding and beginning to learn about children’s mental health, my daughter began struggling in this area. For the last four years we have been working to stabilize her condition and equip her with the tools she need in order to consistently live in recovery.
My families experiences in children’s mental health and my observations of the youth we served increased my desire to “SOUND THE ALARM” and “RAISE AWARENESS” about children’s mental health.
SP: How did you start working with Laura Huth?
Crider: I met Laura about four or five years ago when I began doing research on how to establish a non-profit organization. Since connecting with ACCESS Initiative we have garnered the funding needed to establish a youth and family run organization for Champaign County. In doing so, we sought out Laura to assist us with that work.
SP: Laura, how is your organization connected to Regina’s work?
Laura Huth: Regina hired me through my company, do good Consulting. She’ll have to tell you why she chose me though!
do good Consulting is an Urbana-based consulting firm specializing in the needs of non-profits and small businesses, mostly across Illinois. My main focus is non-profits. My specific specialties are in helping groups learn to fundraise; to engage in strong, high-impact and low-cost marketing and communications; and in planning.
SP: What is the biggest challenge in fundraising for a group like The Youth & Family Peer Support Alliance?
Huth: In general, most smaller and newer organizations don’t understand the value of grassroots fundraising. By grassroots, I mean raising money from people (instead of foundation, businesses, etc.).
The Alliance’s biggest challenge in this regard will be, simply, as a new organization, they will have to build their program from the ground up. They all seem eager and willing to learn more and engage in what needs to be done to build a strong, lasting, impact-driven organization serving our community and its families and children.
SP: That covers some of the financial aspect, but what about those in need of the Alliance’s services? Regina, what are some important things to consider when helping a child (or any loved one) with mental and emotional health issues?
Crider:
- Leave ALL negativity, judgements and criticism at the door. That’s the last thing that the child needs and his or her family needs.
- Seek to understand — mental illness is complex and there aren’t any quick fixes.
- Take the time learn about the child’s diagnosis. That will help you better understand him/her and hopefully give you some insight into how to interact with them.
- With proper treatment and resources the young person can live in “recovery”, but it takes time to get there… be patient. You should expect setbacks and failures.
- Don’t give up. Children with mental illness and their families need support and love.
- Be sure to take care of yourself. Helping someone with mental health challenges can trigger you or you can simply get burnt out. Remember, mental health is very complex.
- Mental illness is hard on families they need to be reminded daily about the good things that are happening. If there aren’t any going on at that time, remind them of their strengths, their strengths, past success… this will help the family stay hopeful.
- Sometimes there isn’t anything you can do, especially in a crisis. However, letting the family know that you are there for them and offering prayers can go a long way.
The Alliance is structured as a family-driven and youth-guided organization. A majority of the Alliance’s leadership will be caregivers who have direct experience raising or caring for a youth with mental health and/or emotional challenges. Remaining seats will be filled by professionals or community members who are passionate about keeping children at home, productive in school, free from law enforcement involvement, and productively living within their community.
The deadline to apply for a 2014-15 board seat is Monday, April 7. Board terms are for one year, with 3 possible consecutive terms. The board plans to meet monthly in the evenings. Applications can be submitted by email or mail to: c/o Access Initiative; Attn: Regina Crider, P.O. Box 5286, Rantoul, IL 61866 or [email protected].
For more information, contact Regina Crider, President, at 217-898-8777 or [email protected] or see www.facebook.com/youthfamilyalliance.