The Federation of Families of SC (FFSC) celebrates National Children’s Mental Health Month! This year, FFSC created a writing essay activity  entitled “How I COPE” for the parents/caregivers who are covered under the Beckman Center in the following counties: Abbeville, Edgefield, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Newberry, and Saluda.

The purpose of the essay is to help parents/caregivers understand:

• Their voices count in the community
• Their wellbeing is important
• How to COPE with different challenges no matter the age of their child/youth

Parents are the frontlines for the care of their children and family needs when trying to deal with daily struggles of raising a child with the onset of psychosis. Parents will share their successes and struggles while trying to understand Psychosis and how it has affected their family.

Topics for the essay:

• The changes in your child
• How you respond to these changes
• What efforts you made to understand these changes
• The impact of stigma on your child and your family
• What do you do to manage your own self-care while your youth is learning how to manage their wellness

These essays will help reduce the stigma associated with mental health and bring awareness to the community by helping families identify warning signs and how to seek supports.

Deadline for all essay entries: Friday, May 28, 2021

For more information and to submit your essay, please contact Beverly Griffin at [email protected] or 803.834.1241 (call or text)