So many of us have struggled through these last few difficult years. Now just imagine what it’s been like for our kids. These mental health stressors have hit our Rhode Island children especially hard– collateral damage of the uncertainty and isolation of COVID-19.

One out of every 3 kids is facing a serious mental health challenge– and all too often, help is not available.

We cannot sit still or stay silent.

We must act now!

So this year we’re doubling down on our efforts to end the children’s mental health crisis in Rhode Island, and making it our number one priority. And we’re asking you to join us.

We plan to expand our Children’s Mobile Crisis program, which provides immediate assistance to kids where and when they need it– 24/7.

Beyond offering acute care from our outpatient clinic at 55 Hope Street, we are rapidly expanding our staff to meet the needs of communities, schools, and homes– eliminating the lack of transportation as a barrier to care. We are committed to ensuring each family is able to connect with the services they need to thrive.

FSRI will be here for RI kids this year and always– and we hope you will be here for us. Will you help us get the word out about the crisis? Will you reach out to your personal and professional network to support this work? Will you volunteer with us? Will you make a donation today?

We realize that money is tight right now for so many– but we are hoping that many can give a little so that all can benefit a lot. Will you donate $50, $100, $500, or $1,000 to help OUR kids?

Right now, you can help end this crisis by ensuring that children who are suffering receive the support they need.  #JoinFSRI

With love and kindness for all,

Margaret Holland McDuff

You’ve stuck with us through thick and thin these last few years, helping your neighbors get through the toughest times of their lives, and we are so grateful for you!

This year we’re striving for a little less stress and A LOT more love–  we’re making this happen by supporting kids’ emotional wellness.

Did you know 50% more RI kids need help with anxiety, stress, depression, and loss since the pandemic? We’re frustrated that there are not enough therapists to meet this need.

We all know the mental health of our children is far too important to ignore– and FSRI is making this our primary focus in 2023.

Join us.

• Sign up to receive FSRI text messages
• Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter
• Sign up to volunteer with us
• Work with us

Thank you so much to all of you who made Be Safe possible. Whether you volunteered your time or invested your money in the program, you have made a substantial difference in the lives of Rhode Islanders who are at greater risk from Covid-19 and who are experiencing food insecurity.

In March 2020 you joined Family Service of RI (FSRI) to support your neighbors in need. Together, we provided life-saving COVID-19 prevention supplies and food assistance. Over the past three years, 623,000 meals have been delivered. These deliveries helped those at greatest risk from Covid-19 lower their chance of exposure while helping them to overcome issues associated with food insecurity.

We at FSRI, are all inspired by the amazing response from both corporate and individual donors and volunteers. You all got involved during a time of uncertainty to support those whose already precarious situations were made nearly impossible by the pandemic. This program has been an enormous success because of you.

As we wrap up our work on Be Safe, we continue to work hard to help those who have been most affected by the pandemic. As the issues of food insecurity continue to be addressed through partnerships formed during the course of this program, we are now moving to address the children’s mental health crisis, a crisis that was exacerbated by the pandemic with a 50% increase in those seeking help from 2019 to present.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to continuing to work with you as we tackle the next obstacle– the children’s mental health crisis.

Rhode Island’s Children’s mental health is the collateral damage of the COVID pandemic. They are facing a mental health crisis like never before and we cannot sit still or stay silent.

One in three children in Rhode Island who are in need of mental health care have difficulty obtaining it, and this sad statistic is coupled with the fact that there has been a 50% increase in those seeking help since the pandemic. This is one of the most important and dire issues facing our children today.  Family Service of Rhode Island, a leader in this field, is making the children’s mental health crisis our number one priority in 2023.

We are offering multiple programs and services to meet children where they are and to address their specific needs:

• Children’s Mobile Crisis Program – This program helps to remove barriers associated with getting children who are suffering from mental health issues the help they need quickly and safely, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
• Parent-Child Interactive Therapy – Addresses the issues of younger children, ages 2-7, who are too often left out of much-needed therapy.
• Outpatient Counseling – Outpatient works with each client and their support network to develop skills to manage mood, thinking, and behaviors to foster resiliency and healing, and become happier and healthier.
• Trauma Systems Therapy – For children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic events and/or who live in environments with ongoing stress.
• School Based Mental Health – Students receive individual or group psychotherapy sessions to help them address presenting problems such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, anger management, and mood disorders.
• Youth Mental Health First Aid – teaches how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among children and adolescents ages 6 to 18.

We hope that you will join us as we take action to bring the children’s mental health crisis in RI to an end. We can all help to conclude this crisis by ensuring that children who are suffering receive the support they need. 

• We helped over 23,000 family members to achieve healing and stability.
• Over 2,300 children were served through our early childhood programs.
• Rhode Island Government Leaders supported significant investments in the housing and human service sectors.
• We were thrilled to promote internal talent into leadership positions, including three to Vice Presidential roles for Hope, Home, and Equity & Community Development.
• We were excited to return to in-person events including the APRI Run/Walk and our biggest Brighter Futures Luncheon to date.

After a two-year virtual hiatus, we had over 500 guests join us on October 3, including so many Rhode Island government and business leaders, and raised over $270,000 for FSRI’s early childhood development programs. Just INCREDIBLE!

Thank you so much for your support! This community shows us time and time again that together we can do great things.

There’s still time to give!

Text ‘FSRI4Kids‘ to 44-321 or click here.

Each year, Family Service of Rhode Island (FSRI) honors a visionary who has had a transformational impact on the lives of our state’s children and families. This year’s theme, Survive & Thrive, commemorates the efforts of FSRI’s early childhood programs, which work to end preventable infant deaths, fill the gap in healthcare equity, and promote healthy growth for all infants and children.

This year we will be honoring House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi for his tireless work in the RI Statehouse to advance issues being faced by our underserved children and families. In 2022, Speaker Shekarchi spearheaded the passage of a budget amendment to invest $119 million from Rhode Island’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, which includes $44.5 million to support children, families, and social programs and $29.5 million to promote affordable housing, housing stability supports and broadband.

During our virtual program, you will receive 6 text messages, each with a shortcut to the next part of the program.

Before we get started, we’d like to introduce you to a few folks.

Our host, Jonathan Pitts-Wiley, is a Rhode Island native, father, husband, storyteller, and educator. A 2007 Yale graduate, he has been the Artistic Director of Mixed Magic Theater since 2010 where he has overseen numerous productions.

In the fall of 2021, Jonathan was named Creative Director at Curiosity & Co., a bookstore, wine bar, and cultural center in Jamestown, RI. Outside of the theater and classroom, Jonathan is an avid portrait photographer, and co-founder of The Vanta Guild, a collective of Rhode Island-based Black photographers.

Margaret Holland McDuff is the Chief Executive Officer of Family Service of Rhode Island. She has worked in the field of social services for the past 20 years and is committed to working with families and communities to promote optimal well-being and health.

About FSRI:

At FSRI, advance equity, opportunity, and hope in our communities. We believe all children and families have limitless potential. But for those growing up surrounded by poverty, family instability, and physical or emotional stress, life is too often about survival, not possibility. To learn more about us and our program and services visit: https://www.familyserviceri.org/about/

• If 40 of you here today give $25, we can provide 10 cribbettes to provide safe sleep for newborns and babies.
• If 30 of you give $50, we can help 10 kids with speech pathology services.
• If 20 of you give $100, we can provide 10 home health visits to a newborn by a pediatric nurse.
• If 10 of you give $30 we can provide 10 home deliveries of emergency food & formula for babies.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Now we’re going to learn a little bit about our honoree. But before that, let’s see if there are any champions for children in the room today.

Ep. 20: Keeping Runaway & Homeless Youth Safe w/ The Basic Center Program