ASK Family Services

ASK Family Services provides peer support to families and youth in the Kalamazoo Community. Our mission is to assist families and their children who have developmental, mood, emotional, and behavioral challenges to understand and navigate services, advocate effectively, and achieve their potential.

Our staff members have lived experiences of disability, either as a parent of a child with special needs or as a youth who has experienced mental health challenges. Through the barriers we have faced individually we aim to inspire hope and help families recognize the strengths they have to draw from during diffcult times.

The services ASK provides to families can decrease isolation, empower parents, share knowledge on effective parenting, increase community involvement, provide an opportunity to have a voice, increase resiliency, and ensure that those we serve are not alone during times of need. Our families achieve these outcomes through one-on-one interactions, support-group participation, the location of community resources, trainings focused on challenges they face, social events, and evidenced-based parental learning opportunities.

The youth we serve have many opportunities to gain leadership skills, reduce stigma around mental health challenges, inform the various systems they may be involved with, learn to have an authentic voice in their care, acquire new skills, and develop positive and supportive relationships. These goals are accomplished through our youth advisory group and youth peer support programs in both individual and group formats. At ASK Family Services, we help families and youth recognize their strengths and use them to build a better future for themselves. Because we have all faced similar challenges we are uniquely qualifed to share our experiences, strengths, and hope to empower those we serve to achieve their fullest potential.

For more information, visit www.askforkids.org