South Huntsville Neighbors, May 2024

COMMUNITY LEADERS
© Best Version Media
Coming Soon:
WellStone’s New Crisis
Care Center for Kids
By Karen Peterson,
Director of Development WellStone
It’s a big year for mental health in Alabama. WellStone, a nonpro 昀椀 t
community mental health center, is just months from opening the
state’s 昀椀 rst stand-alone crisis care center for kids.
While many North Alabamians anxiously await the addition of the
new facility, perhaps no one is more excited than Dr. Edgar Finn,
who has spent decades working in pediatric psychiatry.
“Life is dif 昀椀 cult for young people, and it's also quite complicated,”
said Finn, the new crisis center’s Medical Director. “Researchers
note increasing evidence of mental illness in youths, including anxiety
and depression, sometimes leading to tragedies such as suicide.”
One study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for instance,
determined that, in 2021, 42 percent of US high school students reported
feeling very sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two
weeks, and nearly 25 percent of students considered harming themselves
during that same year. Substance abuse also remains a top
concern. Even though overall
use is down, adolescent overdoses
are on the rise due to
counterfeit illicit drugs.
Even though times are increasingly
tough for kids,
Finn reminds us that youth
are “amazingly resilient
when given the appropriate
resources for recovery.
Those appropriate resources
will soon be available to kids
at WellStone Emergency
Services—Pediatrics. Fite
Construction is building the
addition adjacent to the main
WES building on WellStone’s
Safe Nurturing and Fun Environment for ALL KIDS!
Vanessa and Joaquin Tucker-Owners
OPEN
7 DAYS
A WEEK
A GYM
FOR ALL
KIDS
256.585.2179
info@werockthespectrumhuntsville.com
www.werockthespectrumhuntsville.com
326 Sutton Road SE Owens Cross Roads, AL 35763
Field Trip • Classes • Private Play Dates • Open Play
Birthday Parties • After School Care • Camps
12
pieces of
occupational
equipment
includes zip line
and so much
more!
Photos by Karen Peterson
WellStone
main South Parkway campus. The original WES facility currently
admits approximately 150 men and women monthly, with crises
ranging from severe depression to self-harm, suicidal thoughts to
substance misuse.
Like the adult facility, the pediatric wing will be staffed by a caring,
experienced team who will serve adolescents in a warm, open, and
compassionate setting.
“My goal for our new program is to provide a safe, welcoming
space which allows young people to feel understood and cared for,
listened to, and accepted,” explained Finn. “I want our treatment
environment to be engaging and supportive as we collaborate with
the young person and their family in dealing with the crisis at hand.
Ultimately, the goal is to keep hope alive for all young people admitted
on what may be their ‘worst day ever’ and transform this day
into ‘the day things started getting better."
APOLLO
ANIMAL HOSPITAL P.C.
Locally Owned, Full Service
Veterinary Hospital
We Strive To Provide Compassionate,
Preventative Care With The Best
Diagnostic Tools Available To Us
256.881.4862
7604 Memorial Parkway SW. Huntsville, AL 35802
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