Last weekend the USA Province hosted the first-ever Sharing Our Mission for Counselors at the Marist Brothers Center at Esopus, focused on student mental health. Fourteen attendees from seven of our ministries participated with great enthusiasm and eagerness as we seek to better meet the mental health challenges of today's students. Focus on mental health is not only an expression of "making Jesus known and loved." It also meets a clear and basic need of young people today, without which the goals of education are greatly impaired. In the group's time together, they focused on viewing mental health support through a Marist lens, with the intent to launch a grassroots-based Province-wide support for this work. Together, the group began building mission-centered relationships together, and collaborated by sharing struggles, successes, and best practices around student mental health. At the conclusion of the conference, the group committed to an ongoing networking relationship to continue to support and develop this key service of our schools and their mission.
