A free program supporting grandparents raising children returns to Upshur County in June, and this year it is expanding to relative/kinship caregivers as well.
Lori Ulderich Harvey, executive director of the Upshur County Family Resource Network, said Healthy Grandfamilies will start again on June 16 at the Upshur County Recreational Park pavilion — the pavilion behind the Buckhannon-Upshur High School football field. While the program was built around grandparents, kinship and relative caregivers are also invited to attend.
“Each week, we get together and eat lunch, and while the children play together, we work with a presenter on different topics,” Harvey said. “There are no big presentations. We sit and talk with the experts who usually have lived experience.”
The program kicks off each week at 11:30 a.m. for lunch and runs about 1.5 hours. On-site childcare is provided.
“We will have childcare provided, and it’s very informal,” Harvey explained. “We’re here for the grandparents, to get them the information they need, whether it’s as a group or as an individual. We will continue having meetings every Tuesday until July 28.”
Healthy Grandfamilies began at West Virginia State University in response to the growing number of grandparents raising their grandchildren. The Upshur County program has been highly successful in past years.
“The grandparents we’ve had in the past have really enjoyed being around other grandparents in the same situation, and this year we are excited to open the program up to kinship/relative caregivers as well,” Harvey said. “It has become an informal support group, and we really encourage talking and sharing the high points, the low points – we’re there for all of it. If we have a grandparent who’s going through something, we will stay over and talk to them as long as we need to.”
The program is free and open to any grandparent or kinship/relative caregiver raising or helping raise a child, through either formal custody arrangements or informal help. Attending families who complete the majority of the sessions receive a grocery gift card at the end of the program.
“It can be full or part-time care,” Harvey said. “We have such a high rate of grandparents, formally or informally, taking care of grandkids. They’ve already raised their kids, and now they’re back in a totally different environment trying to raise their grandkids.”
The discussion topics include:
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Advocating for your child
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Substance abuse and family communication
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School-related topics
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Law and your rights
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Digital media literacy
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Fostering resilience
“We’re here to help,” Harvey said. “We want to make sure that they’re getting the best information from the experts that we have each week. If you have a question and if we don’t know the answer, we find the answer to it, or if you’re having an issue, we help you get through the issue.”
Interested grandparents and kinship caregivers should register with the Upshur Family Resource Network by calling 304-473-1051 or emailing upshurfrn@yahoo.com by June 9. Follow the FRN on Facebook by tapping here.
