The Ally
January 2020
The Families As Allies Newsletter

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Martin Luther King Memorial
WE HONOR
THE LEGACY OF
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 
   
"The ultimate measure of a man
is not where he stands in moments of comfort and  convenience,
but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."


THE MISSISSIPPI STATE LEGISLATURE IS IN SESSION! 


Welcome back to our State Senators
and Representatives and thank you for your public service. Please let us know
if Families as Allies can assist you with policy research or your constituents' needs. 

To all of our readers, you can track bills, read about who represents you and listen to webcasts of sessions at the  Mississippi State Legislature website.

 




NAMI Mississippi is seeking
workshop session proposals for their 2020 spring conference.
To submit a workshop proposal,
click here.  The submission period will end on January 29, 2020.


COMING IN MARCH:
Mental Health and
Wellness Day at the Capitol
MARCH 11, 2020

MISSISSIPPI STATE CAPITOL BUILDING
400 High Street     Jackson, MS 39201
8:00am to 11:00am

For more info  contact Kay Daneault at
(228) 864-6274 or email:
Kay@msmentalhealth.org


Get Ready For
31 Days of Giving in May!
Because we were selected
for the 12 Days of Giving  we now
have the opportunity to join with
Sal and Mookies, Bravo and Broad St.
during the month of May to honor Children's Mental Health Awareness and raise money for Families as Allies.

We look forward to all of you partnering with us to raise awareness and also have lots of coffee, pizza, pasta and ice cream along the way!

 

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Featured Article
 


WE SUPPORT EACH OTHER
AND WORK TOGETHER
TO MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR OUR CHILDREN

" We support each other and work together to make things better for 
our children"....these  are the words
we use to describe the core work of Families as Allies. There is something so simple, yet profoundly powerful, about one parent helping another and t hen all of those parents coming together to make things better for our children across systems in the state.
Families have been doing this work through grassroots family-run organizations such as the National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health and Family Voices since the late 1980s.  

State systems have also recognized the importance of parent-to-parent support. The Mississippi Department of Mental Health added parent peer support as a service in 2017 and the Mississippi Department of Health has been piloting parent to parent support with families of children with special health care needs for the past two years.  Families as Allies applauds both agencies for making this a priority,  and we also appreciate the opportunity to train families from both agencies in how to do peer support. 

I want to publicly thank the Mississippi Department of Mental Health for including me in its recent peer support strategic planning retreat.  The group started some important conversations about how the Department could broaden its partnerships with consumer and family run organizations to deliver more, if not all, facets of peer support.  I look forward to that conversation continuing.

We hope this newsletter conveys our commitment to parent-to-parent support and also how much we value each and every family and supporter of Families as Allies.  

I hope to see all of you at our Open House on Tuesday, January 21st!





Please join us 
Tuesday, January 21st
from 4:30 to 7:00 PM 
at our
Annual New Year Open House
to celebrate another year
of working together.

We'll have great food, activities for children, and the opportunity to network with colleagues, visit with old friends and make new ones.

Please join in the celebration and share your vision for Families as Allies in 2020.


 

EARLY CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS VIDEO



We are excited to share our recently completed early childhood mental health awareness video with you.  You can click on the image above to view it. The video is part of a larger awareness campaign in the Jackson metro area focused on three themes: even young children can have social and emotional challenges, help is available, and the best way to help young children is by partnering with their families.

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and his wife Ebony are the spokespersons for this campaign and are passionate about these themes for every family in Jackson. We thank them for participating and sharing their family time to make the video. We also thank the Mississippi Children's Museum for allowing us to shoot part of the video at the museum and Mississippi Families for Kids' Help Me Grow Initiative for providing information and resources. And we thank the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, who provided funding for the production of this video.



NEW MONTHLY
FAMILIES AS ALLIES ACTIVITIES
STARTING IN FEBRUARY
  
Families as Allies is launching two new monthly activities starting in February.

On the third Wednesday of every month, starting with February 19,
we will do a virtual support and coaching session from noon to 1 PM that's open to any parent providing support to other parents, including family partners and parent peer support specialists.  Watch our Facebook page and website for call in information or let Henry Moore know you want to be part of the group.  
On the fourth  Wednesday of every month, starting with February 26, we will host a webinar from noon-1 for families and anyone supporting families.  February's webinar will be   "Partnering in Your Child's Behavioral Health Care:  How Do I Know If My Child Needs Help and
Where Do I Go If They Do?"

Watch our  website  and Facebook page for registration information.



DISABILITY AWARENESS DAY
AT THE CAPITOL

Tuesday, January 28th
from 8 AM to 2 PM at the Mississippi State Capitol.

Disability Awareness Day at the State Capitol is hosted annually by the Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities.  The day offers people with disabilities, family members and advocates an opportunity to learn about current disability issues, network with others in the disability community
and speak with decision-makers who can preserve or expand services that make a critical difference in the lives of Mississippians with disabilities.

For more information contact:   Mickey Alford at 601-969-0601
or email: mickey@msccd.org


DON'T FORGET TO CHECK
OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE!