Back to School – Support for Families

Photo courtesy RaeAllen.

by Angela Gaughan

Support Group Project Specialist

As the new school year approaches, families are anxiously making plans to get their children ready to go back to school. The new school year brings with it feelings of excitement and anticipation for the children. For parents and grandparents, who may be raising children, stress and anxiety may be some of the feelings they are experiencing. Many parents and grandparents find they do not have a solid support system, which can provide a sense of comfort and reassurance through times of stress.

A number of support groups are available for parents. One resource is the Kansas Children’s Service League (KCSL). They provide a statewide support group system, the Circle of Parents® Support Group Program, which offers support groups to grandparents raising grandchildren (Kinship), parents of children with special needs, fathers, adoptive/foster care parents, Hispanic families and parents in general. Other organizations offer support groups for parents in Kansas on topics such as multiracial families, homeschooling, troubled youth and infant care.

“There are a number of benefits for those who attend support groups, some of which include sharing personal experiences and gaining information about similar situations from others. Groups provide an opportunity to talk with knowledgeable group leaders and some of the groups share educational information. Attending a group meeting is a great way to establish a network of support,” said B.J. Gore, KCSL supervisor.

With school aged children returning to the classroom, some support groups are offered during the day and adults can look for meeting times which meet their schedules. People who attend groups sometimes do not realize that the information they share can be helpful to others who are attending the meeting. A friend recently told me that she was able to describe how she worked with her daughter to complete her homework in a timely manner, only to discover that her story helped someone else in a similar situation.

The KCSL support groups are offered free of charge and there is no application process required.  Groups meet in cities across the state. For more information, contact B.J. Gore at 316-942-4261, ext. 1315 or bjgore@kcsl.org.  The groups are listed at https://www.kcsl.org. 

In Kansas, more than 2,000 community support groups, national organizations and websites provide help for a broad range of specific issues. Contact information for support groups can be accessed through the Kansas Health Solutions website at www.kansashealthsolution.org/Shn1.0 or by calling 800-445-0116 in Kansas.

Pondering the future of Support Groups | By Jennifer Comes

One of CCSR's roles is to act as custodian of the state's self-help network, a database of self-help groups where people can find help for specific issues or just connect with other people who have the same medical, mental health, relationship, or other concerns. Finding a support group close to home can be a tremendous resource.

But people often ask us, what good is a database of support groups when a person can just go to a web site from the comfort of their home and find support online? Good question!

To us, the difference between face-to-face self-help and online self-help is like the difference between blowing a kiss and giving a kiss. While both are displays of affection, one is more real, more meaningful. That's how we feel about community support groups, and our research backs this up. Some emotions – anger, jealousy, anxiety, and depression, for example – are thought to be more easily expressed in a personal setting than online with a group of people one doesn't know.

But many organizations also keep databases that list online support groups; they, too, have something to offer. Online self-help groups can be a good option for individuals who find themselves too far from a community support group. Others who may want the help of a support group may not be able to relate well verbally to people – individuals with autism or social phobias, for example. Perhaps a physical handicap makes attending a support group meeting too difficult, or time constraints make attending a meeting impossible. Perhaps a situation is too unique to expect to find a support group locally. In those situations, online groups may be an appropriate option.

Research we've been conducting tells us that online self-help – e-mail, bulletin boards, and the like – can also supplement or reinforce the work of a real-world support group. Members of Alcoholics Anonymous, for example, can attend meetings face-to-face, but they also can participate in an online e-mail and bulletin board for AA members that reinforces and expands on what is offered in meetings, giving members a more enriching experience.  

We believe strongly that support groups empower individuals to help themselves, and we see a future for community self-help groups going forward. Our database of more than 2,000 support groups, national organizations and web sites can link people all over the state to support near and far. To find a support group, go to www.kansashealthsolution.org/selfhelpgroup or call us toll-free at 800-445-0116. If your group isn't in our database, please call to let us know you would like to be included.

Social Media: What’s Next? | By Amy Delamaide

Seth Bate and I hosted a Compassion Kansas workshop on "Social Media: What’s Next?" on April 17, 2012. We had nearly 20 participants and heard from panelists Lt. Doug Nolte (Wichita Police Department), Jennifer L. Keller (American Red Cross Blood Services--Central Plains Region), and Ryan Entz (Butler Community College). The focus of this workshop was Google+ and Pinterest.


Here are the links and resources we used to build the presentation.

 



RESOURCES on Google's "Search, Plus Your World"

From the official Google blog, a post on Search, Plus Your World.
And from Mashable, a post on How Google’s Social Search Shift Will Impact Your Brand’s SEO.
And one more on social search by Danny Sullivan here.


RESOURCES on Google+: Signing up and using

To sign up, go to: https://plus.google.com/

For some important-to-follow tips on setting up brand pages, check out Heather Mansfield's post on Nonprofit Tech 2.0 on Google+ Best Practices for Nonprofits. She also gets you started on G+ with 22 Must-circle Nonprofit Bloggers and Resources on Google+.

This post from the Nonprofit Quarterly was useful, too: Google+: Social Media for Entrepreneurs


 


RESOURCES on Pinterest.com

A good place to start is with the Nonprofit Tech 2.0 post on How to Get Your Nonprofit Started on Pinterest.

For more information about how nonprofits could use Pinterest, check out these posts:

• Nell Edgington on Social Velocity: Why I love Pinterest and Nonprofits Should Too
• From Cynthia Price: Pinterest Lets You Share the Things You Love
• From John Haydon: 12 Ways to Use Pinterest for your Nonprofit
• From Marketing Land: 21 Unexpected Ways Brands Can Use Pinterest

And the Chronicle of Philanthropy has articles here and here about nonprofits using Pinterest. If a flowchart would help, here's a flowchart for whether your business (or nonprofit!) should be on Pinterest. (Hint: B2B = business to business. B2C = business to consumer, customer, or client. Most nonprofits are B2C, but some exist to support other organizations, in which case they are closer to B2B.)


CONNECT

• Digital Wichita hosts a social media breakfast on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7:30am at Mead’s Corner.

• Digital Wichita group on Facebook.

• Find out what your community offers.

LEARN MORE

• May 15th: Webinar by Heather Mansfield at Nonprofit Tech 2.0. on Google+, 1-2:30pm ET. Sign up here.

• June 14th: Nonprofit Chamber of Service, Session 2 in Administrative Professional Development Series: Managing Electronic Communications, 11:30am-1pm. More info here.

• July 24th: Ben A. Smith workshop Social IRL: Social Media for Non-profits and Social Good, free, 9am-4pm, at Kansas Humane Society.  Sign up here.

CPS Newsletter Part 2