Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Group Meets on November 14, 2018…New Families Welcome!
Cape May Court House, NJ – If you are the primary caregiver for your grandchild, we invite you to join us at the next meeting of Rutgers Cooperative Extension Family and Community Health Sciences’ Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Group on Wednesday, November 14, 2018. The free information session will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County, 355 Courthouse-South Dennis Road, Cape May Court House, New Jersey. New families are always welcome and childcare is provided.
The group, that meets 10 times a year, has been providing educational and social support to grandparents in Cape May County who are raising their grandchildren since 1999. The goals of the group are to strengthen family relationships, provide educational programs, identify community resources, and improve the quality of life for families. Marilou Rochford, FCHS Health Educator said, “I created the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Group nearly twenty years ago to educate and support an underserved and growing population in Cape May County. Our grandparents are dealing with many new challenges and one of our goals is to be a source of information and support for them in this endeavor.”
One way we accomplish this is by developing programs based on an annual needs assessment survey. Expert speakers present on topics that include custody, adoption, and guardianship, parenting the second time around, health, nutrition, and wellness, bullying and cyber safety, and drug and alcohol abuse and its impact on families including the trauma it creates. Through the years, our Needs Assessments have consistently shown that the problems most of our grandparents are facing are a result of some form of substance abuse – ranging from alcohol to opioids. To address this, a number of our presentations focus on substance abuse and the problems that is creates.
In addition to the serious subject matter, there are also annual family events such as the Back to School Bash and Family Wellness Night. Rochford added, “One of the benefits of the program is that grandparents learn they are not alone.”
A light supper will be served at 5:30 p.m. and the program will follow at 6 p.m. There is no charge for this program, however, advanced registration is required. Please call Marian at (609) 465-5115, ext. 3609 for more information about the program or to register for the November 14th program.
Support for this program is provided by the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Cape May County Division of Aging and Disability Services, and Rutgers Cooperative Extension. Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County educational programs are offered to all without regard to race, religion, color, age, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.