Family’s Journey with Full Service Schools Made Huge Difference

Elizabeth Hosey loves to share how Full Service Schools (FSS) transformed her family. It is a story she’s happy to tell over and over because she wants families facing challenges to know help is available—to realize they don’t have to figure everything out on their own.

Her family’s journey began when her 11-year-old daughter Colleen was having behavioral and attention deficit issues and her 7-year-old daughter Helena was struggling to handle her anger. Hosey asked the speech therapist at Jacksonville Heights Elementary School for a referral for help.

That led her to Full Service Schools, which provides a range of services to Duval County students and their families through a collaboration with United Way of Northeast Florida and several other community partners. From 2013 to 2023 Full Service Schools:

• Had more than 55,500 requests for services
• About 28,600 consents to student-focused mental health services
• Over 357,300 people served

Stories like Hosey’s further illustrate the impact Full Service Schools have on the entire family and demonstrate how lives can truly be changed.

One componet of her family’s transformation came through working with McKenzi Shelpman, a clinical counselor with Family Foundations of Northeast Florida. After meeting Hosey’s family, Shelpman wanted to help Colleen build her self-confidence and to give her the tools to handle her big feelings.

“There’s no better feeling than creating confidence in yourself,” Shelpman said.

Hosey said the sessions with Shelpman were incredibly helpful for her daughters, equipping them with coping skills. For example, Colleen learned how to communicate if she was getting upset instead of exploding with anger.

“She learned to walk away from the issue and calm herself down,” Hosey said.

And Helena gained more confidence in knowing how to express herself, including being able to verbalize what was making her mad, Hosey added. Her daughters are getting along better because they’ve learned how to communicate with each other. If they hit a roadblock, they try to work it out themselves. They have far fewer arguments, which means there’s more peace for everyone in their home.

Programs like Full Service Schools are especially critical in counties like Duval, where there is such a diverse student population. Angela McGuire, Director of Community Impact at United Way, said each FSS site—there are eight in Duval County—provides services based on the needs of specific neighborhoods, including food and clothing pantries, teacher and student school supplies, after-school tutoring and mental health counseling.

“Whether it’s providing free mental health services or helping families with their basic needs, our mission is to eliminate barriers to student success,” she said.

Testimonials from other families in the program illustrate similar experiences. One parent whose child attends Riverside High School said there has been a significant improvement in her daughter, who is making better choices. A parent whose son attends Chimney Lakes Elementary said the child is more expressive with his mom. “He can explain himself without getting angry,” she said. And a student at Ed White High School no longer gets into physical fights and has been able to open up more at home. These stories illustrate the legacy of a program that has transformed families for years, thanks to United Way. A program that will continue to bring hope to families in the future.