Dear Acknowledge Alliance Family,
“Thank you so much. I was in a pretty dark place at the beginning of Project Resilience, and you brought me up. The coping skills you taught us really helped me when I was dealing with my own problems.” –7th Grade Student
I am so inspired by this student’s expression of gratitude to Acknowledge Alliance’s social emotional learning facilitator. I see it as a powerful reminder of the importance of resilience and mental health support during the pandemic. As the Board Chair, I’ll follow this student’s lead and extend my deep appreciation to you, for shining a light on the well-being of students and educators through your support.
You may already know that this year has been especially difficult for students and educators alike. And through it all, every mental health professional on our team has been on the frontline, caring for students and educators who feel isolated, burnt out, stressed, and grief-stricken. Students have experienced additional trauma from the pandemic that has taken a particularly large toll on vulnerable families. Teachers, who are already under the pressure of addressing students’ learning losses, have been tasked with acknowledging students’ shared trauma and navigating new, multi-layered challenges in virtual and in-person classrooms.
When students and educators were asked about their experience with Acknowledge Alliance, a common theme that emerged was gratitude for support, connection, and the reminder that one is not struggling alone. You’ll see some of their reflections in our “community gratitude journal" below. I hope you realize how much your incredible generosity means to our organization and those we serve. We rely on your support to continue our vital work. Because of you, students and educators feel valued, validated, empowered, resilient, hopeful, and grateful.
Please join me in making a gift today to ensure that local educators and students like “Sammie” have the necessary tools to be successful throughout the school year and beyond. Before counseling, Sammie did not attend school for a whole year and believed that the school system was against him. He felt like an outcast until counseling helped him build positive relationships. He expressed gratitude for having a counselor he could connect with and talk about his inner world. He went from feeling depressed and hopeless to feeling confident. He now relates to his teachers, uses resources to meet his needs, and feels motivated to attend school. He is passing all of his classes with A’s and is on track to graduate on time!
Together, we are creating engaging school communities for students like Sammie, where mental health matters and relationships come first. This is what our founder, Cleo Eulau, had always envisioned. Thank you for furthering our mission to promote lifelong resilience in children and youth, and strengthen the caring capacity of the adults who influence their lives.
With gratitude,
Steve Hope
Board Chair
