Summer Program Guide 2019

MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP Email | cheryl@momsgonewild.ca Get Involved

WHAT IS ONE WORD YOUWOULD USE TO DESCRIBE YOUR MOM?

WORMS &WEE ONES Email | wormsandweeones@gmail.com MOMS GONE WILD Facebook | @momsgonewildcanada Instagram | @momsgonewild NOT FOR PROFIT SUPPORTERS OF WORMS &WEE ONES Alouette River Management Society | WildSafeBC | Ridge Meadows Recycling Society | KEEPS guidance but mostly we just share and acknowledge our struggles and triumphs. The greatest gift the group has given us is knowing that we are never alone. Even during our darkest days we are loved. IF YOU COULD GIVE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO PARENTS IN MAPLE RIDGE, WHATWOULD IT BE? Whether it be through a volunteer organization, a social group or at school pick-up - put yourself out there and meet new people!! I know it’s awkward but by allowing yourself to be vulnerable, you will open yourself up to a world of support and joy.

"MOMMA LOVE." -Sienna (age 4)

"LOVE." -Kayla (age 7)

YOU MORE RECENTLY ALSO BEGAN A MOTHER’S MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP – CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE GROUP? I started a Mother’s Mental Health Support Group after suffering from postpartum depression and anxiety, following my second daughter’s birth. Motherhood can be excruciatingly lonely, exhausting and guilt-ridden. For an entire year I pulled away from my social life, I struggled to find purpose in each day and I beat myself up for “allowing” such a downward spiral. I had very few people who I felt comfortable enough to talk to about the thoughts I was experiencing and even when I knew people would listen I felt like I was burdening them with my negativity. As I received the help that I needed from doctors, therapists, and family I began to realize that although I had always been an advocate for ending the stigma surrounding mental health issues I wasn’t in fact talking about my own. I decided to publically, and fully announce what I had been, and was still, struggling through. I had absolutely no idea the outpouring of love and the personal stories that would follow. Mothers who I didn’t even know wrote thanking me for sharing my story, which was, apparently, extremely similar to their own. I immediately bonded with each of them. When the messages kept coming I knew what I experienced extended way beyond myself. I had tapped into a community of people, mothers, who were silently suffering and I wanted to bring them together. Thus, a safe, and secret online space was born where mothers from all walks of life could gather. The group now has over 325 members, most of which are local. We have a rule that absolutely nothing we speak of leaves the group and our members have always honoured, respected and appreciated that rule. Sometimes we offer each other

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