In recognition of Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, SHINE Clubhouse participants gathered Monday to beautify their Adopt-A-Spot location on Pitt Moore Road, just behind Arby’s restaurant. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the first full week is designated for children.
SHINE’s spot on Pitt Moore has pleased the eyes of passersby since the group formed a partnership with the city of Statesboro in May 2016, and the road often is embellished with holiday and seasonal decor.
For this week, however, the decorations are meant to bring awareness to SHINE’s own plight: mental health issues. SHINE is a mental health clubhouse for children ages 8 to 16 with a diagnosed mental health issue.
“We’re a mental health resiliency-based clubhouse,” said Akilah King, program manager for SHINE Clubhouse. “We provide non-traditional mental health services to include individual counseling, group counseling, family counseling, group and life skills, as well as case management.”
SHINE Clubhouse falls under the umbrella of Pineland Mental Health Services and currently serves 78 children.
Volunteering is effective for recovery because it gives a sense of purpose, a sense of community. It gives them a sense of belonging.Michelle Meadows, behavioral health director for Pineland Mental Health Services
One participant, a 10-year-old who attends Sallie Zetterower, said, as she tied a large green bow to a tree, “It’s fun because I like to do arts and crafts, and I love to decorate my room.”
She also said she believed it was an important job because “it lets other people see what we do and how we help other people.”
A 9-year-old SHINE Clubhouse participant, who lives near the Adopt-A-Spot, stopped picking up litter long enough to say, “I like when we clean up and when we decorate. I like doing this stuff.
“I see this spot every day on the way to school. I feel proud to see it. I like telling people that I helped do this.”
Michelle Meadows, behavioral health director for Pineland, said that volunteering is hugely beneficial for mental health recovery.
“Volunteering is effective for recovery because it gives a sense of purpose, a sense of community. It gives them a sense of belonging,” she said.
King agreed and said, “This is their spot. We get ideas from the kids on how to decorate. They have a voice in their recovery, ownership in their recovery.”
Students in the program attend for 12 to 18 months after school — Mondays and Wednesdays for elementary students and Tuesdays and Thursdays for high school students. On Fridays, students who are out of the initial program are provided for during an additional six-month timeframe.
“We’re so blessed to do what we do and impact their lives this way,” King said.