Centerstone to host video conference for parents in May

Centerstone, a national leader in behavioral health care, will host a Parent Peers Empowering Parents (PPEP) meeting via video/telephone on May 26 that will focus on trauma and resilience with guest speaker William Moore.

Moore has more than 15 years of experience teaching middle school science, social studies and language arts. He is a presenter for the Illinois Education Association’s (IEA) ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), a national trainer for the National Education Association (NEA) “Leaders for Just Schools” in response to the Every Student Succeeds Act, and a researcher for the National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.

Moore has presented to thousands of teachers and students and camps, and, because of the stay-at-home mandate, Centerstone is providing a video/telephone presentation by Moore for parents about trauma and resilience.

All parents are welcome to attend the meeting, held from 6-8 p.m., by either visiting https://centerstone.zoom.us/j/92801656014 or calling 888-475-4499 or 877-853-5257 and using the following Meeting ID: 928 0165 6014.

PPEP meetings started earlier this year and are held regularly to provide support, education and inspiration for all Southern Illinois parents. While the meetings are usually held in-person throughout the region, they are now being held via video/telephone due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The aim of the group is to empower parents, to allow them to be heard and to provide parent peer support,” said Niki Grajewski, Clinical Manager at Centerstone.

In December, Centerstone announced that it had received a $2.1 million, six-year grant from the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation (ILCHF) to improve the mental health of children and communities throughout Southern Illinois. PPEP was created as a result of the grant.

“Among the goals of this ILCHF-funded programs are to improve parental engagement, decrease caregiver stress, and increase peer-provided services in our project area,” said Grajewski. “PPEP will be provided mostly by parent peer supporters, parents with experience navigating the mental health system. They will support, inform and help parents build their own capacity for supporting their families.

“We wanted to provide multiple options in several communities to make it easy for parents to get involved and decrease transportation barriers,” Grajewski said.

All parents in Southern Illinois are welcome. There is no fee to join and no commitment required to participate.

For more information or to RSVP, contact Brandy Moore at (618) 457-6703, ext. 7772, or brandy.moore@centerstone.org.

Centerstone PPEP Meeting Flyer May 2020