When the Village Is Missing: April’s Story
- Jan 2
- 3 min read
April often reflects on how different her family’s journey might have been if the right support and resources had been available from the beginning. “If I had had the right kind of support and the right kind of resources from the beginning,” she says, “I believe it would have been easier on all of us.”
Her story begins on Easter Sunday, when her twelve year old daughter came to her and asked to talk. What her daughter shared in that moment changed everything.
“She told me she was suicidal,” April recalls.
“She told me she had already attempted once.” Then her daughter pulled up her sleeve and revealed fifteen to twenty scars, all in various stages of healing from cutting. April describes feeling completely overwhelmed and heartbroken.
“I felt like a deer in headlights,” she says.
“I had always prided myself on my parenting, and suddenly I was facing something I knew nothing about.”
The guilt came quickly.
“I remember thinking, I thought I was supposed to watch her phone, not her arms,” April shares.
“How could I not have known she had already attempted?”
Searching for Help Without a Map
After that day, April began trying to find help, though she had no clear direction.
“I didn’t know where to begin,” she says. Multiple professionals confirmed the same reality. “This was not a drill. Her mindset was absolutely in a place of self harm, and she couldn’t see a future.” Therapy started with the hope that it would be enough, but April quickly realized how unprepared she was to navigate the mental health system for a child so young.
“We had no knowledge of the medical field or what kinds of resources were even available for a twelve year old,” she explains.
“I didn’t know how to help her, and I needed professionals to surround us.”
People often say it takes a village, but April did not have one.
“I just didn’t have that village put together,” she says.
“I didn’t know where to turn or what to do.” Her daughter learned tools in therapy that April could never have created on her own.
“She learned things I couldn’t have helped her with, no matter how much I tried.”
When Support Falls Short
April reached out to friends, hoping for understanding. Instead, she was met with responses that left her feeling more isolated.
“Sometimes people don’t know how to be supportive,” she says.
“Sometimes it awakens fear in their own lives.”
After another therapy appointment, April was again warned about the seriousness of the situation.
“They told me, ‘This is not a drill. You need to lock up medications, sharps, even extension cords,’” she recalls. She held herself together long enough to drop her daughter off at school, then broke down in her car.
“I fell apart completely,” she says.
Looking for comfort, April went to a friend’s house and shared everything that had been happening.
“I sat in her kitchen and sobbed,” April says. “And after all of that, she told me my daughter was just doing it for attention.”
That moment was devastating.
“When you’re reaching out for support and you don’t get it,” April explains,
“it’s often because people aren’t trained. They haven’t walked that walk. They’re afraid.”
The Cost of Going It Alone
Roadblocks seemed to appear everywhere. As a parent, April struggled to stay whole while trying to be present for her daughter.
“I didn’t know how to stay together so I could be there for her,” she says.
The emotional weight was constant, and the isolation only deepened the strain.
Looking back, April remains certain of one thing.
“If I had had the right support and the right resources from the beginning,” she says again, “it would have been easier on all of us.”
Why Community Matters
This belief is one of the reasons Salus Collective exists.
“The goal is to create a safe space and start the conversation,” April explains.
“That’s how you get the support you need. That’s how you find the resources you need.”
When families try to navigate crisis alone, or rely on people who are not equipped to help, the results can be overwhelming.
“It’s like the blind leading the blind,” April says.
“It can be a hot mess.”
But she believes deeply in the power of connection.
“There is so much goodness that comes from community,” she says.
“The right kind of community.”
No parent should have to build that village alone. Reach out to Salus Collective today.
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