Glossary
What is Family Action Network?
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Family Action Network of Lake County, Indiana, Inc. (FAN) is a chapter of the National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health focusing on the needs of children and youth with serious, emotional/behavior disturbance and their families. This is the parent piece of the Child Mental Health Initiative (CMHI) known as Circle Around Families (CAF). We are a parent run organization. Our mission is to empower our parents to become stronger advocates for themselves and their families.
Family Action Network will be the voice of the parents and their needs. Parents can accurately address their needs and priorities of their families and we are here to listen and to communicate their needs to the professionals. Parents will have a say in the decision making of their children's needs and know that their voice is being heard.
Through this, parents will be able to support each other and know that they are not alone with the parent run family involvement and parent support groups. Family Action Network will teach the parents of the resource services that are in their community and how to effectively access them.
We have monthly family meetings on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 6:00 p.m. where we get together for a light dinner with our families and then the youth break away and do crafts and play games and the adults can share their current successes and challenges that are of concern to them. We also discuss upcoming events and share information with each other. To assure we have enough food and crafts please call to reserve your spot. The meetings are currently being held at the Woodmar United Methodist Church located at 7320 Northcote, Hammond, IN.
For information or If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Nancy Cloonan at (219) 933-1700 or by e-mail at familyactionnetwork@msn.com.
What is a Support Group?
| Sharing | our feelings, not only for our loved ones who have an emotional, behavioral, or mental disorder, but how we were able to cope with the feelings inside of ourselves as the caregiver. |
| Understanding | being in a group with others with the same problems and what's more, being with people who are willing to listen. |
| Patience | trying to give 24 hours a day care, 7 days a week and knowing that in your heart you are physically and mentally exhaused. Although you are not willing to admit this even to yourself, you know that in this group everyone understands - they've been there or are there. |
| Purpose | as caregivers to reach out to each other for understanding, comfort, and information. |
| Openness | with each other to afford assistance in care giving in ways we may not have considered previously. |
| Rapport | is the knowledge that we are not alone in our problems. We reach out to others who are in the same "boat" as we are. |
| Truth | realizing that some alternatives may not be appealing. |
| Gathering | The positive feeling within the group enables all to react and interact with people who are also dealing with and understand what emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders are. |
| Reporting | finding out what progress is being made within individual groups to advance education among all people concerning emotional, behavioral, or mental disorders. |
| One | as one-person touches another and another and another so does understanding. |
| United | the closeness in hearing a common problem, knowing that although some may be at different stages and not all will reach every state - the possibility exists and therefore we are together. |
| Put them all together and they spell: SUPPORT GROUP | |
