Long before dawn on Christmas morning, Jasmine Ortiz and her family ran from their home in fear for their safety.
An abandoned house just behind their West Englewood home was fully engulfed in flames.
Though their home would be undamaged, and no one was harmed, the experience seared into the memory of her son, Dharious, who was then 3 years old. In the months that followed, the boy grew agitated around his mother cooking, worried about the possibility of fire.
Eventually, during a play therapy session with a Bright Futures therapist, the young boy opened up about his feelings.
“There was a specific moment where the play seemed to be explicitly about the trauma, and he was more willing to talk about it,” said Jennifer Jimenez, a licensed therapist for the Bright Futures program at the Mitzi Freidheim Child & Family Center in the Englewood community on Chicago’s South Side.
Families with lower incomes often face barriers when it comes to accessing mental health care, including stigma, lack of insurance and fewer providers in lower-income communities. Brightpoint’s Bright Futures program seeks to change that narrative by providing free, trauma-informed mental health therapy to parents and children who might not otherwise be able to access it.
Since launching three years ago, the program has bolstered the organization’s ability to provide consistent, on-site child-parent psychotherapy with full-time therapists and clinical interns at five of Brightpoint’s six early childhood and education centers in Illinois.
This isn’t light work, particularly for parents grappling with their own past traumas.
“I honestly describe it as insane bravery,” Jimenez said. “I just think it takes immense courage to look at your past and recognize both the ghosts and the angels and then recognize the ways in which you carry that in your own children.”
(All photos by Alyssa Schukar for Brightpoint)
‘I always feel heard’
For Ortiz, the decision to try Bright Futures came down to trust.
She knows the staff at Mitzi, as the center is affectionately known, where her son Dharious and 1-year-old daughter Yeimy attend. Previously, they’ve helped her out with other needs, such as clothes and food assistance.
“To this day, I always feel heard,” Ortiz, 26. “Other places, sometimes I feel judged but not here.”
Her son, Dharious, is a very active, energetic boy, who doesn’t always listen or respect other people’s boundaries, according to his mother. In completely non-clinical terms, he’s a bit of a handful.
“If you tell him not to run in the street, he’s going to run in the street,” Ortiz said, smiling.
That’s challenging at home when Ortiz is trying to also care for her two daughters, ages 1 and 8. At times, her frustration can sometimes boil over to yelling – a relatable experience for any parent of young children.
As a child, Ortiz experienced more than her fair share of hardship.
Her father was incarcerated; her mother lost custody of her when she was 7 years old, Ortiz said. As a result, she and her siblings were raised by their grandmother.
“We grew up thinking that if you go to therapy, you’re crazy,” Ortiz said.
Through Bright Futures therapy, she said, both she and Dharious have both improved at identifying their emotions and keeping an even keel. Her son is listening better – and sometimes even helps with the cooking now.
“I thought it would be more for myself,” Ortiz said. “Now I think of it as for myself and for him.”
‘Now I will speak up’
The Bright Futures model incorporates play therapy with the child and parent, as well as one-on-one sessions with the parent, to connect past trauma to feelings and behaviors. From there, the therapist works with the parent to identify helpful practices moving forward.
That progression takes months and continues as long as it’s helpful, or until the child ages out once they go to kindergarten, said Jimenez, the therapist at Mitzi.
“I always say that the best parent and the best person that you can be is both recognizing that you’re going to do the best that you can with your kids – to make them feel loved, to make them feel safe – and be humble enough to recognize when that’s not happening,” she said.
Primarily funded through a grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Bright Futures has become a critical component of Brightpoint’s mental health support for parents and young children. Currently in year three of the five-year federal grant, the organization continues to seek sustainable funding to build upon the program’s early success.
“Bright Futures reflects where we believe the future of mental health care is headed — reaching families earlier, showing up in places they already trust, and making it easier for parents and young children to get the support they need,” said Gabby Hidalgo, vice president of mental health & wellness.
“Parents are doing one of the hardest and most important jobs there is, and they deserve support that feels accessible and connected to their everyday lives,” Hidalgo said.
A healer at heart, Ortiz wants better for her three children than what she experienced as a child. Currently, she is in the process of obtaining her license to become a massage therapist. And she’s been able to take better care of herself because of the wraparound support that she’s received at Mitzi.
Therapy has become an important part of her journey.
“Growing up, I felt like I had to hold my problems in,” Ortiz said. “And even as an adult, I did the same. But now, I’m learning to better speak my mind. Now I will speak up.”