Campbellford Parent Hosting Informal Support Group

Meets the 1st Saturday of Every Month

When: Sat., March 4, 1 to 3 p.m.

Article by Sue Dickens

Campbellford – Wed., March 1, 2023 – “As a parent of a daughter who has mental illness challenges. I just remember geez it would be nice to talk to someone,” said Joel Parkes.

And with that in mind he has organized a support group for just that.

The first get together will be this Saturday at the library in Campbellford.

He plans on hosting the group the first Saturday of every month from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

It is strictly a drop in gathering.

“I find if you meet other people I find that just under the surface, a lot of parents are just keeping this to themselves and when they find out from work colleagues, or just people they know, they’re going through it too and honestly, when you talk about it at all, it’s such a relief,” Parkes told Trent Hills Now.

This is an opportunity for parents to get together and just talk.

“It’s so important to know that you are not alone if you struggle with how to deal with life when your children suffer from mental health issues,” he says.

When Parkes realized he wanted to help others with this struggle, he made the decision to move forward with this informal group.

“If you want someone to talk to come and talk to people who’ve gone to the same thing as you and everything that you talk about it’ll stay in the room. Okay. That’ll be the only rule. Okay. The only rule we have is that it stays there,” said Parkes

“I think the pandemic made the situation worse,” he added.

People were isolated by the pandemic and so getting out to talk with others about their concerns now is something he hopes will be appealing to many parents in the same situation as he has been in.

“For a lot of parents I just think it’d just be nice to go somewhere at least once a month and say wow, you know that’s what I’m going through at home or whatever…it’s then you find out you’re not alone,” said Parkes

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