It’s tough growing up around mental illness
fameKids is a very unique and special program for children that builds upon the child’s existing knowledge and resiliency skills. It is a support program designed specifically for children from 7-12 years of age who have a family member with a mental illness.
fameKids offers a dual model of service delivery. The first is an 8 week after school support program. This pre-registered, multi-modal psycho-educational group helps children to understand their parents’ mental illness and learn to take care of themselves. The second model is One to One support where children receive individualized support and can work to ensure a continuum of care after the fameKids program is completed. One to One can provide children with individual tools and coping skills that work just for them.
Our belief is that kids are amazing! Children have innate resiliency skills and strengths that can help them cope in difficult situations. fameKids allows children to see that they are not alone in having to understand mental illness. It is a relief to know that their situation is not unique, and that help is available. In a world where children feel powerless at times, at FAME they learn that they can have the power to take care of themselves, and to not feel ashamed of their parents’ struggles with mental illness.
One of the goals of fameKids is to help children recognize that they are not responsible for their parent’s illness. When the program started four years ago, we provided support to 16 children, currently we have provided support to over 300 children and this number is growing.
