Marcus Ginn, Donor Relations Manager, Canopy Children’s Solutions, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s November 3, 2020 meeting. The subject of his presentation was “Mental Health." Ginn is an alumnus of the University of Mississippi and is the Treasurer of the National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI).
Canopy was founded in 1912 as the Mississippi Children’s Home Society with the mission of placing orphaned children into permanent, loving homes.
In 2016, the name of the organization was changed to Canopy Children’s Solutions which more accurately reflects the current mission of the organization. That mission is to help children thrive and families overcome extraordinary challenges by providing a continuum of behavioral health, educational, and social service solutions.
Canopy employs a diverse group of mission-driven employees committed to honoring the voice of Mississippi children and families. We work to keep these voices heard by our state and national leaders. Its employees are published academics and research journalists in behavioral health and social service issues.
Ginn gave a brief history of the organization and its current status. He said that today Canopy has 18 locations in Mississippi ranging from
- two Cares Schools, one in Jackson and one in Hattiesburg,
- two Child Advocacy Centers, one is Pascagoula and one in Gulfport,
- Community offices throughout the state,
- an emergency shelter in Vicksburg,
- a residential center in Jackson, and
- corporate offices in Jackson.
Per Ginn, one in 54 children are diagnosed with being on the Autism spectrum, and one in five children in Mississippi, or 131,000, have behavioral health challenges. Eighty percent of these do not get the needed care. Mental health is not treated as a “real” disease. We need to shine the light on mental health.
To increase the attention on mental health, Canopy is sponsoring “Share Hope” November 13 - 15 at Highland Village in Jackson. This is a weekend of outdoor activities focusing on mental and physical wellness. The CSpire Foundation is the primary sponsor of the weekend’s activity. Ginn encouraged people to “be congruent”, “Be realistic”, and Be Nimble” with respect to mental health. Being congruent is to put things in the proper order, being realistic is to accept the facts, and being nimble is to adapt to a changing environment.
We thank Ginn for his presentation and for what he is doing to help improve mental health. He is shown the following photo during his presentation.
The following is a link to the November 3 Club meeting, including Ginn’s complete presentation: https://vimeo.com/475517579.