It’s not often I am completely blown away by something I didn’t know about, but that’s exactly what happened when I spent an afternoon with leaders of Canopy Children’s Solutions.
This Mississippi nonprofit, under the amazing leadership of Jon Damon and a large, active, local and enthusiastic board, has marshaled private, local, state and federal money to rescue and transform tens of thousands of young Mississippi lives.
When I left their offices, I was inspired and hopeful for the future. Their vision is a vision that needs to penetrate the consciousness of every person in our state.
And what is that vision? In my words, valuing every single person as a child of God. Not giving up on anybody. Providing the direction and resources to save at risk young people and getting them back on track so they can lead happy productive lives.
I toured Canopy’s residential school behind Millsaps that serves 40 students who could not fit in at their public schools. The facilities were upbeat, modern and clean with lots of greenspace. The children seemed happy and engaged. Everyone had a positive attitude.
It’s inspiring: The hardest children in the state to teach, children who were uncontrollable at their schools, getting their acts together and making enough progress to return to their schools and be successful students.
Forty years ago we beat and punished these children in run down juvenile jails. Today, Canopy is loving and nurturing these children at their Children’s Solutions School. (I love that name!)
Starting as a small charity in Meridian, Canopy has grown to a $33 million organization with offices, schools and clinics around the state with 446 employees. They are addressing mental challenges for young people including ADHD, autism, substance abuse, therapeutic foster care, abuse and depression among others. Last year they transformed the lives of 5,092 young people.
One in five young people will battle serious mental illness during their childhood and adolescence. Growing up in this volatile and overwhelming new world is hard enough. When faced with mental illness, the obstacles become insurmountable without help. Canopy is dedicated to getting people this help.
There’s a long way to go: Approximately 75,000 young Mississippians will face serious mental illness at some point growing up. Only a small fraction are getting appropriate treatment. If we can help these young people get through these rough periods, they can go on to become productive citizens. But far too often, our system makes a young person’s crisis worse, sending them on a downward spiral that condemns them for a lifetime.
Mental illness is the cruelest of all physical problems. First, there is an age-old stigma of mental illness as somehow implying weakness. If a person has severe allergies, we don’t blame the person, yet somehow we cannot separate the mind from the body.
The brain is an organ. It’s an incredibly complex machine which houses our souls. Its inherent complexity makes it prone to failure. Every one of us is just a few stressful events from mental illness.
Canopy’s attitude is this: If your child had an ear infection, you would naturally take your child to a doctor. Mental illness is no different. If a child suddenly loses interest in hobbies, becomes obstinate or withdrawn and begins declining in school, then seek help. Get your child to a doctor. Call Canopy. Seek help. Don’t delay.
Awareness is so crucial. Struggling children have little insight to what’s plaguing them and how to seek help. The same is true with their parents. As a state, we have to change the culture from one of embarrassment to one of awareness, acceptance and action.
One statement from my grandfather Oliver Emmerich has forever stayed in my mind. “Mississippi cannot afford to leave a single person behind.” Those words ring true today. The lock ‘em up and throw away the key mentality must end. It’s true for adults, but it’s even more true for our children.
Jesus Christ tried to explain this to us. His words couldn’t be any clearer. How many times are we to forgive? Seventy times seven. He told us what we do to those in prison, we do to him. His anger was reserved to haughty high functioners who looked down their noses at the struggling sinners.
It’s been hard for me to finally come to the realization that all these years I was wrong to look down on those who struggled in life. But it’s not too late for me or our state.
Wyatt Emmerich is president of Emmerich Newspapers. Reach him at wyatt@northsidesun.com.
