Mental Health Day

Take care of your mental health. It is important to be kind to yourself. Spend time with supportive people: family and friends. Seek professional help if life becomes challenging. Get outside for walks, cycling and hiking. Eat nutritional and well-balanced meals, get plenty of sleep and volunteer in meaningful activities. Be mindful of the effects of Covid-19.

The Breast Cancer Awareness Month, marked in countries across the world every October, helps to increase attention and support for the awareness, early detection and treatment of this disease.

 

The earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the better the chance of successful treatment. So it's important to check your breasts regularly and see your GP if you notice a change.

Common breast cancer signs and symptoms include:

How Can I Lower My Risk?

Wear your MASK, WASH your hands, SOCIAL DISTANCE. We are in this together. Be kind to others by wearing a mask. Our children are counting on the adults around them.  Children need to feel secure, need to have a routine, a degree of certainty that life will get back to normal. Help them manage their feelings.  Allow time for them to talk about things concerning their lives.  Make the best of this situation by practicing healthy habits.  Go for walks, ride your bike, go for picnics or take up a new hobby.  A young boy wrote an optimistic poem about life at the end of Covid-19.

Lincoln*, 11, from the United Kingdom*

"When it is safe, I’ll hold my arms open wide,… 

                                                          I Believe

There are times when things go wrong in our lives. We feel that the ground is shifting under our feet.  We can't find a limb to hold on too. We feel as if we are drowning.  It is at this time we must rely on our inner strength. We have to do some positive self-talk.  We have to keep some nuggets in our pockets to pull out when the struggle become overwhelming.   We must remember that struggles will come but we can deal with them. We must believe.  

1.     If there is no Struggle, there is no progress. Frederick Douglass  

2.     We grow because we struggle, we learn and overcome. R. C. Allen

3.     The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.  Helen Keller

4.     The struggle you're in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow. Don't give up.  Robert Tew

5.     Strength comes from struggle. When you learn to see your struggles as opportunities to become stronger, better, wiser, then your thinking shifts from 'I can't do this' to 'I must do this.'    Toni Sorenson

6.      Don't get discouraged by the success of others. Make your own path and never give up.  MJ Korvan

It can get a little boring to go to school virtually.  What a real treat to have an older child read to younger children.  This is a great opportunity to engage diverse age children in an after school activity that will give both ages an opportunity to read and entertain.  The goal is to find a book that will appeal to a young audience.  Use animation as the book is being read.  Do show pictures.  Allow the listeners to ask questions or to digest the material being read. Read and Enjoy!!

You can make it if you try!  We are pleased to award Malachi Swindler a Scholarship to apply towards his academics at North Carolina A&T State University.  He is all settled in at college and working towards an Engineering Degree.

We have watched Malachi’s journey, provided mentoring services, supported him with referrals when needed and has been his biggest cheerleader.  What makes this award so special is that he became known to us as a boy who wanted direction and sort out help from two partners with Pitt County Family Development Corp., Inc.  He had men that went to his sports engagements, went to some of his school functions, provided guidance in applying for college and counseled him on money management when he started to work.

We will follow this young man, providing support and encouragement as he needs it.  The goal is to watch him walk across the stage at his graduation.

   

It's All About Attitude!   Let us work on our ABC’s

You were made to sparkle.  So encourage yourself.  Positive self talk can go a long way.

You are not the only fish in the sea traveling upstream.  You can stand out by being you.  The trick is to find your stride, put one arm in front of you and sail with the school of fish.  Remember, you are not alone.  

Here are some quotes to get you sailing:  

“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”– J.K. Rowling

“Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts. ”– Albert Einstein

“You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”– A A Milne

“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are.”– Kurt Cobain

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”– Elbert Hubbard

“Don’t become so focused on status that you aren’t also nice to other people, because that’s the kind of popularity that pays off for decades to come.”– Mitch Prinstein

“I am the greatest. I said that before I knew I was.”– Muhammad Ali

“Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.”– Laird Hamilton.

Discipline, A Parent Super Power

Parents, students and school personnel survived the first week of school.  Congratulations to all of you.  

To the parents who opted to do virtual learning this semester, discipline is going to be your super power.  So what is discipline?  Getting up on time, have breakfast, get school dressed, have homework done and play attention as if your child was in class physically.  Parents must take the lead in this type of discipline.  If children  think they can negotiate with their parents to not complete assignments, not log on to their class or decide to play electronic games, you are losing.  

Parents set up a schedule, discuss it with your child and stick to it.  Please make time for recreation, arts and crafts and finding creative ways to see grandparents and friends.  Just know, we will get through this together.

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The Woodson Center

Pitt County Family Development Corporation, Inc., is proud to be a part of this organization.   The Woodson Center works with nonprofits to empower leaders through resources, to access funding, provide leadership development training and technical assistance to uplift neighborhoods.

It is exciting to come together via Zoom to talk with other nonprofits and to hear about programs and projects they are undertaking.  It is through this type of engagement that nonprofits feel inspired rather than feeling they are alone with the needs being so great.  Getting tips on how to access supplies, expertise from affiliates and receiving funding for programs that can be replicated in other communities is awesome.

It has been extremely gratifying to hear from organizations in other states on how they are coping with the pandemic and still are able to carry out their missions.

One organization did a vegetable and part virtual garden.  This idea can be done in must region of the country.  A big thumbs up to the Woodson Center and collaborations.