Grove City families struggling with a child's mental health will have a chance to hear from a nationally known speaker and connect with a local peer-support network this weekend. The city announced it is backing Holding It Together: Youth Mental Health & Family Resilience, a community event set for Sunday, November 8, at The Naz church in Grove City.
The City of Grove City said in a Facebook post that it is “proud to join The Buckeye Ranch and ADAMH in supporting Holding It Together: Youth Mental Health & Family Resilience,” describing it as a community event hosted by REAL TALK, Real Support - Ohio. The Naz lists the gathering on its events page as taking place Sunday, featuring “bestselling author and speaker Kristina Kuzmič, along with a panel discussion,” according to thenaz.church.
The church describes the evening as a chance for “honest conversations, encouragement, and hope for families navigating these challenges,” per the same listing. The event's ticketing page notes that attendees with a full-program pass will have access to all activities and resources, though it cautions that the discussions will touch on sensitive topics.
Sensitive Topics, Reduced-Price Access
The ticketing platform for the event, hosted on zeffy.com, warns that the program “includes sensitive discussions about mental health, including self-harm, that may not be suitable for children.” The page also notes that a reduced-price ticket is being offered, “made possible by generous donations from your neighbors and friends,” to help ensure broader attendance.
Behind the event is REAL TALK, Real Support, a peer-led group that says it was founded in 2023 to serve as “an official peer-led social-emotional support resource for parents of children with mental health struggles,” according to its own account on realtalkohio.org. The group says its regular support-group meetings give parents and caregivers “a place to talk through their feelings, share resources and celebrate the victories.”
A Mission Built on Peer Connection
REAL TALK states its broader mission is to connect parents and caregivers of children with mental-health challenges so they can “find peace, strength and empowerment in the company of others dealing with the same,” according to realtalkohio.org. The organization also says it is now working with The Buckeye Ranch to expand its outreach, pairing the grassroots peer-support model with a larger regional behavioral-health provider.
That expansion has had local government backing. Citizen Portal reported that Grove City Council approved an ordinance appropriating $20,000 in Ohio opioid-settlement funds to Real Talk Real Support, with speakers telling the council the funds would pay for facilitator training, outreach, and the November 8 event meant to expand awareness, according to Citizen Portal's account of the meeting.
Context From the County's Data
The event's sponsors include ADAMH, the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County, which maintains a public data dashboard tracking local behavioral-health indicators. ADAMH says the dashboard includes “community data on mental illness and substance use disorder prevalence, suicide and overdose mortality facts and statistics,” along with measures of unmet need and crisis-system activity across Franklin County, according to the ADAMH Board of Franklin County.
For families in Grove City weighing whether to attend, organizers have been clear that the evening is designed around honest, sometimes difficult conversation rather than a simple inspirational talk. Between the church's hosting, the city's public backing, and a peer-support group built specifically around parents facing these struggles, Sunday's gathering brings together several threads of local support under one roof at The Naz.
