Treasure Talk
Caregiving Youth Project Newsletter The Caregiving Youth Project helps identify, recognize, educate, and support students who care for ill, injured, elderly, or disabled family members. This allows caregiving youth to achieve success, have fun, and make new friends, while promoting academic and personal growth.
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Dear Reader,
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Connie Siskowski, RN, Ph.D. Founder and President |
This month concluded with a Conference in which A.J. and Charlie Poole from McClean, VA spoke. They are in middle school and, for the first time publicly, shared their story about caregiving for their grandmother for two years. They didn't have a CYP to help them through some tough times. Isis Michalski, a senior at G-Star who has been with CYP since 6th grade, also spoke. The brothers had each other, however were alone. Isis learned that, once in the CYP, she was a treasure and no longer alone, plus, her family was also assisted. All three kids plan to continue to share their stories; sharing your story is the most powerful way to help others know about and understand the valuable work of all caregiving youth!
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| MIDDLE SCHOOL |
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CYP hopes all of our students did well on the FSA testing.
CYP Family Specialists will be in the school throughout the month of May and will be meeting with all of our students for the end of the year evaluations. Your feedback and input is very important to us! The topic for Lunch and Learn in May is Lupus. If someone in your family is diagnosed with Lupus please see your Family Specialist at the Lunch and Learn table in your school.
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| CONTINUING CARE |
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Congratulations to all of our seniors on graduating!  We could not be more proud of all of your accomplishments. Please join us on May 31st from 4-6pm at the Boynton Beach Intercoastal Clubhouse to celebrate. You are invited to bring 2 family members as guests. Please RSVP to Brenna 561.391.7401.
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| JOIN US |
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Attention all CYP students: Join us on May 20th at 1:00pm at FAU to cheer on the FAU Owls as they take on Old Dominion. The event will be taking place at the FAU Baseball Stadium. Spots are limited so please call Brenna at 561.391.7401 to reserve tickets for you and your family.
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| CAREGIVING TIPS |
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Multiple Sclerosis or MS has been the health condition for Lunch and Learn sessions during April. As an auto-immune illness that affects the central nervous system, MS is potentially disabling. It is more common in adults who are the ages of your parents. Although there is no cure for the disease, there are medications that can slow its progression. Additionally, there has been great progress and reduction of symptoms with integrative medicine including exercising, reducing stress and changing dietary intake to foods that are likely to be less inflammatory for your family member's body systems.
When you are caregiving for a family member with MS, there are several things you can do to assist that person and yourself too.
- Learn as much as you can about MS so you have the facts first-hand as the illness and symptoms can vary from person to person
- Create medication reminders to assure that medications, which may delay the progression of the illness are taken according to how and when prescribed
- Facilitate times to rest as this illness often promotes fatigue and reduces energy
- Work with your family member to encourage smoking cessation as some studies show that smoking can increase the intensity of MS
- Share the multiple stress reducing methods that you learned in Skills Building with your family members as reducing stress factors helps both you and your family member(s)
- Keep the temperature of your home environment comfortable for your family member - it seems that people with MS prefer coolness
- Use assistive devices including a cane or walker if your family member begins to be challenged with walking - this will increase stability and help to prevent a fall
A final note is that special scholarships are available to caregiving youth through the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Visitwww.nmss.org to learn more!
As always, if you are experiencing having a tough time dealing with the issues surrounding seizures, please feel free to speak with a trusted adult such as the Family Specialist of the Caregiving Youth Project who is in your school or who is a phone call away at 561.391.7401.
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| COMMUNITY PARTNER - CHRYSALIS HEALTH |
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Chrysalis Health's fundamental belief is that everyone is deserving and capable of achieving health, happiness, productivity, and personal wellness goals.
Their mission to ensure clients achieve optimal levels of wellbeing through the provision of compassionate, innovative and effective behavioral health and wellness services.
Chrysalis Health partners with AACY to offer a wide variety of counseling programs and services.
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| IMMIGRATION RESOURCE |
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 Established in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is one of the leading organizations in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of low-income immigrants. For more information visit National Immigration Law Center. |
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"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers
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