MADISON, Alabama — As love month slowly comes to a close, the 'Kids to Love' Foundation continues to spread their love by meeting the needs of children in foster care. And today is no different because the 'Kids to Love' Foundation is breaking ground on their new mental wellness center. 'Kids to Love' Foundation Founder & CEO Lee Marshall said mental health is a crisis in our community, and no one feels that more than the children in foster care. "Up to 80% of children in foster care have significant mental health issues," said Marshall.
That's compared to approximately 18 to 22% of the general population, she said. But today 'Kids to Love' has a response. "We are so excited. We are breaking ground today on the Smith Family Wellness Center, home of the Grant Hill trauma team," Marshall explained.
Marshall says that mental health is a crisis in our community, and no one feels that more than our children in foster care. She said the greatest unmet health one for youth in care will experience PTSD symptoms and former foster children are twice as likely as US war veterans to experience PTSD. "Abuse, neglect, trauma and hopelessness is a dark place that no child should be forced to live in."
What will the Wellness Center include?
"So, it will actually have three separate spaces inside. It will have the mental wellness center that will be comprised of therapy rooms, a conference room for our team to staff cases and offices for our therapist. It will have an additional warehouse space. Our warehouse, as you saw inside, is already at its capacity. So have additional warehouse space and they're going to have a huge multipurpose area that we will use for training for both foster parenting classes and K -Tech. And it will be large enough for us to hold events. So today, where we were all quietly gathered in that room, we will have plenty of room next time that we have a big event," Marshall explained.
The Foundation's team of therapists serving these kids and the community make up the Grant Hill committee, named in memory of the late Alabama football player Grant Hill who studied trauma and its impact. Hill was working toward his Ph.D. in counseling when he lost his life in a hunting accident. Grant Hill's father Brad Hill said the Hill family partnering with the 'Kids to Love' Foundation is a perfect partnership. "We are committed to helping the youth that have experienced trauma and tragedy in their lives." Hill explained.
This is an 11,000 square foot facility, and they'll do more than treat trauma. "But we will be able to help them heal from the trauma that foster care and the abuse that led them into care that they have experienced," Marshall stated.