Both my grandmother and my mother were quilters. One of my most vivid memories is always seeing my grandmother’s quilting frame sitting in her den and watching her as she so painstakingly did each stitch by hand to weave these small pieces of clothing that were worn out and no could no longer be passed down to the next recipient into these amazing pieces of art. And it is now that I truly understand the love - not to mention the PATIENCE - it took from start to finish for these quilts - which, by the way, she always gave away.
My grandmother raised eleven children in a two-bedroom house WITH ONE BATHROOM! She didn’t have a sewing machine but she made clothes - again by hand - for these children and they were made to last through several children before they finally retired into quilts. I can only imagine the memories that must have gone through her head as she so carefully cut these tattered garments, shaping each piece to fit into a larger pattern. I still have two of the quilts that she gave to me - my favorite being the one that she gave me as I went off to college. That quilt has followed me through my entire life and now keeps my granddaughter snug as she sleeps. I just wonder how many memories went through my grandmother’s head as she stitched every single stitch with so much love. I wonder if she ever realized that all of those memories - now four generations later - would continue to bring warmth and comfort to others.
I have recently shared the epiphany that came into existence in my head and how I can now understand better how suddenly things make a lot more sense in my own life, with some of my clients as well as with some of my coworkers, family, and friends.
We all have all of these pieces in our lives. Some are broken, some are frayed, some are “colorful”, maybe MORE colorful - if you get my drift - than others, some are perfect, some not so perfect but they are all a part of what has brought us to where we are today. Now, some people by nature or from experience will tend to focus on the broken or frayed pieces and that becomes their way of living their life. Others will pick out only the perfect pieces and put it out of their heads that there were also some “not so perfect” pieces along the way and that’s how they live their life. Ah, but the WISE person will look at all of these pieces, arrange them into some sort of shape, trim away the frayed parts, trim the tattered parts, and then place all of these together into something beautiful that can then be very carefully “stitched” into something that will allow us to retain all of the memories - while at the same time, mix the perfect with the not so perfect and use these to then go on to make something beautiful, which we can then give away to bring comfort and warmth to others. We may not hand stitch each and every stitch but we use every single piece of our life, making sense out of it all, then sharing it with others. Little did I realize as I watched my grandmother and my mother spending so much time and energy, I know they had to be lacking at the end of every day, to create these beautiful masterpieces and then share them with others.
I now look at these priceless masterpieces of not just my life but the lives of so many other members of my extended family. Some I remember, some I don’t, but what I do remember is there were so many moments of both pain and joy that went into the crafting of these quilts. And I realize how blessed I am that someone has made me realize that in our own lives, God takes all of the broken and frayed pieces and weaves them in with the beautiful moments of joy to bring us to where we are today and, now, WE have the power of the “stitch” to take all of the pieces of our lives to help other individuals and families as they weave the “quilts” of their lives together.
We are not broken pieces to be tossed into the trash. We are beautiful souls who sometimes need someone to realize and see the beauty left within us to then weave us back into something beautiful so that we can then give it away to others who seek warmth and comfort.
Written by Karen Hyatt, Family Support Specialist, Parenting Consultant, and Grandparent
I have been facilitating parenting classes for a long time, 27 years to be exact. Helping parents gain new skills to help them to be the best parents they can possibly be has been my goal for many years. You might say, as do some of the parents that come through my classes, “Who are you to tell me how to raise my children?” Telling a parent how to raise their child is certainly not my job, but helping a parent learn new parenting skills, or helping them to put into practice what they already know is a win for parents.
I have the pleasure of seeing improvement in most parents that go through the parenting classes offered by Just Say Something. The joy I receive is in knowing that with improved parenting skills a child has a better chance of growing into a successful adult.
Which leads me to something that happened recently for the very first time... A parent in the Back In Control Parenting Enrichment Course gave me a gift from her teens! I have received many gifts from parents through the years, but this was “a first”! The gift was sweet, but the thank-you card is what is important and made me cry. I want to share their words:
“We want to say thank you for teaching our Mom. She has done a 100% turn-around. I hate rules but I guess they work.”
The other teen wrote: “Thank-you! My Mom is so much nicer! Lol, I am glad she came to your class, except we have more rules now.”
Children who grow up in homes where there are rules and follow through and consequences, as well as structure and routine, learn what is and is not acceptable in the home, in school, and in life.
Some parents weren’t taught good skills while growing up and may not
have had rules in their home. That’s where Just Say Something can help, by providing parents with these very important skills. When the teen children of a parent who has taken your parenting class thanks you for helping their Mom, you know that parent has learned and is putting into practice the skills they need to use to raise their kids to have a better life and live by rules. I love “a first”!
Written by Lynn Hooper, Parenting Director
Youth Impact Sports (YIS) is a FREE flag football, basketball, soccer, and swimming camp and tournament for children ages 6 to 12, which provides a fun, athletic outlet while promoting togetherness and character-building skills (i.e. discipline; accountability; bullying prevention; substance prevention; and anger management). Team uniforms and meals provided.
YIS league is a collaboration between Just Say Something; Reedy Property Group; and the Center for Educational Equity Greenville Boxing Club (CEE). While this program is geared towards youth who live in Reedy Property Group residences, youth from other communities are welcome. It was created to positively impact youth in the community during these chaotic and unprecedented times.
Every Thursday night, YIS and CEE holds basketball practice for youth ages 10-13 at the Sterling Gym from 6:00PM - 8:00PM while promoting camaraderie, character-building, and life skills. Youth who participate will have the opportunity to play in the league and in an AAU Tournament. Youth Impact Sports mission is Changing Lives by Shaping the Community.
Every Wednesday night, YIS and the Strengthening Families Program (SFP) team up at Upstate Circle of Friends from 6:00PM - 8:00PM to support Spanish-speaking families! Parents learn positive parenting skills while their kids participate in sports and other youth empowering activities. Coach Adriana Giraldo, a trainer and coach with the United Soccer Program, works with youth ages 6-13 who want to play soccer.
In September, Youth Impact Sports will hold a Fall, two-week, Flag Football Training Camp & Tournament at Upstate Circle of Friends, 29 Ridgeway Drive from 6:00PM – 8:00PM. Flag Football Practice will be held from September 11th-14th. Kelly Bryant, current quarterback with the Arlington Renegades and former quarterback with the Missouri Tigers and the Clemson Tigers, will serve as coach and motivator! A Flag Football Tournament will be held from September 18th-21st. It is FREE to participate on a first come, first serve basis for the first 60 kids! Boys & girls ages 6-11 are welcome! If you have a child who would like to participate, Sign Up Here! To view flyer, Click Here!
For more information, contact Stacey Ashmore or Autumn Hightower at 864-467-4099. Tournament dates are Wednesday-Thursday, September 20-21, 2023.
Support Youth Impact Sports and keep it going! Donate items specific to the program through our Amazon Wish List and drop by to cheer these youth on!
Follow Youth Impact Sports on its Facebook page!
This year, Just Say Something is holding a $5 Friday Campaign Fundraiser to support the year-round, parenting enrichment courses it provides to parents in Greenville County. $5 Fridays will be promoted on Just Say Something’s social media sites every Friday for several months!
The purpose of this unique campaign is to emphasize that even small donations matter and to remind everyone to consider supporting a good cause as the work week winds down and they begin to look towards a relaxing, carefree weekend!
For less than the cost of a Starbucks coffee, you can help to give parents in your community the skills they need to nurture their children and to help them grow into successful adults. Donate by clicking
https://givebutter.com/A7qpFm! Thank you for donating!
For more information, contact Autumn Hightower at 864-467-4099. Don’t forgot to follow us on our social media sites!
#FiveDollarFridays #FridayCampaign #Fundraiser #Donate #SupportFamilies #SupportYouth #ParentingWisely #BackInControlParenting #TransParenting #StrengtheningFamilies #SFP #TripleP #YouthImpactSports
This year, Just Say Something was the beneficiary of the 37th Annual Greenville Greek Festival held on Friday-Sunday, May 19-21, 2023 at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in downtown Greenville.
The Greek Festival is an Upstate tradition which began in 1987 as a way to share the Greek culture with the Greenville Community and it has continued for 37 years.
Admission proceeds will benefit Just Say Something’s youth substance prevention and parenting related programs. So, support a great cause by enjoying some authentic, Greek food, music, and dance! Come join us and experience a taste of Greece!
For more information, contact Phil Clark at (864) 467-4099.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and other social media sites!
#GreenvilleGreekFestival #GreekForADay #GreekFestival #GreekFood #GreekMusic #GreekDancing #Fundraiser
I can’t believe school is almost out for the summer. Where did the year go? The kids will be home all day. What will we do? How can I keep them busy?
On those lazy, hot, summer days when your kids say, “I’m bored. There’s
nothing to do,” here are some ideas that I think would keep them busy and entertained:
1. Let your kids sleep later since they have had to get up early every day for school all year. Remember, they are growing and sleep is important to their growth and development.
2. Do fun things with them such as play board games; go on a picnic; ride bikes; have a cook-out and let them help cook; have a family movie night to watch a fun, family-oriented movie together, pop some popcorn, and talk about the movie afterwards. Having conversations with your kids helps to boost language and brain development.
3. Encourage your kids to spend lots of time outside. They need sunshine, fresh air, and time away from technology and social media.
4. Make sure they read during the summer months. Take them to the library; have some kid-friendly reading materials at your home; and read with or to them, if they are young. Remember, they can travel the world in a “good book”!
5. Give your kids chores to do that are always age-appropriate, such as making their bed each morning; putting away their clothes; keeping their room clean; and feeding the dog. This is how parents teach kids responsibility.
6. Limit their screen and social media time to a minimum each day and night. Take them away and re-charge them in your room or they may stay on them all night.
7. Encourage your kids to eat healthy. I think fresh fruits like melons are delicious during the summer and remember, water is a must to keep hydrated and feel good.
Happy Summer!
Written by Lynn Hooper, Guest Writer / Parenting Director, Just Say Something
If you would like to share some of your thoughts and opinions on this subject with our Parenting 411 blog, please share them at info@justsaysomethingsc.org. #Parenting411 #JSSBlog #JSSGuestWriter #SummerTime #FamilyFun #FamilyFriendly #KidFriendly #SavingKidsSavingLives #MonitorYourKids #NutureYourKids #PreventACES #ParentingWisely #BackInControlParenting #StrengtheningFamilies #TransParenting #TripleP #Parenting #ParentingTips #SubstancePrevention #SupportFamilies #SupportYouth #StartTalking #ConversationStarter #JustSaySomething #SubstancePrevention
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a month set aside to encourage communities to raise awareness about the prevention of child abuse and neglect; support parents & caregivers; and build relationships and connections so families may easily access the resources they need to help children grow into healthy, strong, and successful adults, unaffected by substance use, addiction, and a whole host of other problems.
Join Just Say Something in ensuring every community is a safe place where our children can thrive.
Let’s help children in our community have #GreatChildhoods!
#ChildAbusePreventionMonth #CampionsForChildren #ThrivingFamilies #CAPMonth #WearBlueDay #SCChildrensTrust #StartTalking #SavingKidsSavingLives #JustSaySomething #MentalHealth #PreventACES #NutureYourKids #SupportFamilies #StrengtheningFamilies
Just Say Something would like to thank everyone who participated in or sponsored the 9thAnnual Red Ribbon 5K in Sugar Creek on Sunday, October 5, 2025. Bon Secours St. Francis Health System was "title sponsor".
Proceeds will be used to help youth and their parents have open, honest & ongoing conversations about alcohol, vaping, marijuana, opioids & other substances, and other at-risk behaviors.
The top three winners in the Adult Female and Male Categories include:
Adult Female Category:
Adult Male Category:
The top three winners in the Kids' Run by Gender and Age include:
Boys Aged 0-9 Category:
Girls Aged 10-12 Category:
Boys Aged 12-14 Category:
Girls Aged 12-14 Category:
Boys Aged 15-19 Category:
Girls Aged 15-19 Category:
CLICK HERE to find out more about the 2025 Red Ribbon 5K. To learn about the about the 2026 Red Ribbon 5K, contact Phillip Clark at 864-467-4099.
Please remember to like us on our social media sites! #RedRibbon5K #RedRibbon5KSugarCreek #SugarCreekCommunity #RedRibbonWeek
Thank you for supporting youth and families in Upstate!
So, here we are… IT’S SPRING! (Ah-choo!) Yep. Time to put away the all-black wardrobe from winter and - OH NO - pull out the shorts and short sleeves! But what about those few extra pounds that - I don’t know - just happened over the winter? Hibernation is over. Maybe, I’ll exercise. Yeah, that’s it! I will exercise! I’m going to start TOMORROW! Oh, and maybe I will watch my calorie intake too! Yeah, I’m going to start TOMORROW! Oh wait, that dinner party is coming up next week and my birthday is coming and I do love cake… Fill in the blanks……
When do we finally decide that it’s time to take control of our wellness?
Let me preface this by also including single dads and caregivers of all kinds. You are rock stars! But for the sake of this text, I am speaking in terms of moms.
I am my own worst enemy sometimes when it comes to actually thinking about ME. Not to be discriminatory to you dads but moms are born with a litany constantly playing in their heads, “You must take care of everything”. We juggle not only our own schedule but also that of every other member of the family, including our pets! I don’t know… Our family members obviously have decided that the womb is actually some sort of tracking device that can find anything that is missing, despite the length of time said missing object has been gone, in 2.5 seconds or less. That pile of laundry is totally invisible to everyone except mom and she has to do calisthenics just to enter and exit the laundry room. Somehow the food magically jumps from the fridge to the oven to the table and hopefully at the EXACT time that each person can make it to the table due to varying schedules. It’s a lot. To be fair, thank you to all of the dads, partners, and significant others out there who do help. But let’s be honest, when does anyone EVER come up to you and say, “You really deserve a break. Why don’t you take 30 minutes for yourself to just go outside and breathe some fresh air? You are doing such a great job, mom, wife, sister, aunt, caregiver, please just think about YOU right now.” Rarely. So, where does that leave us? Well, technically, if we want to assure that it will get done, we must take charge of our own self-care.
How many times have we heard, “You can’t pour from an empty cup?” We think, “DUH”, but let’s break that down! Our lives are SO fragmented these days. We work. We have kids (and grandkids). We have pets. We have after-school activities to chauffer (and maybe coach) … Because, OF COURSE, we want our children to know we’re doing all we can to encourage them (and their team) to victory! We have church. We have aging parents. We have after-work meetings. The beat goes on…….
We are literally running a marathon from the time our feet hit the floor in the morning until we fall face first, comatose, into the bed at night. Our brains never stop. This is life. Where do we draw the line? I struggle with this EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I will speak for myself when I say that my typical way of handling this is to take whatever is at the top of the pile and work down. WAIT! That thing on the bottom just changed from this afternoon to this morning. So, yeah, not the most effective way to handle things, yet, it’s what I do.
Through INTENSE training, I am learning that even if I can only give myself what I call “mental health moments” throughout the day, it is enough to refresh, recharge, and reset. It has always been a joke to me when people talk about meditation. OH YEAH! That’s it. For someone who suffers from extreme ADHD (and has struggled with it for their entire life), this is what that looks like... OK, I am going to sit down now. Assume the position. Close my eyes, now. Clear my brain. Clear my brain. OH, MY GOSH! I meant to put the clothes in the dryer! Clear my brain…. Clear my brain…. Why is the dog barking? Clear my brain… Clear my brain. (Phone rings.) Well, you get the picture…..
So, I am left now trying to figure out how I managed to get onto the floor without a firm plan of how to get up again…. My granddaughter’s pajamas are still wet and she is in the shower getting for bed and my brain is even MORE scrambled than it was before.
So, since ADHD was not even a thing when I was young (or, at least, it wasn’t yet determined to be “a thing”), I learned early on that I had to pave my own road to survival in a world where I saw others doing well… So, why wasn’t I? I love being outside - walking, sitting in the sun, watching the birds, and gardening - and I can literally lose myself when doing any of these things. THIS, my friends, is the answer. You MUST find SOMETHING in which you can “lose yourself” to take your brain to some other place to escape the fragments of thoughts that grow totally out of proportion when unattended. Even if we can only do this for 10 minutes several times during the day. AHA! I just realized that there is some other form of “meditation”. Did I “invent” this? Let’s go with that. So, I invented this new way of “meditation”. Just kidding, but I just wanted to roll around in that moment for a bit! My brain has unplugged and gone to some “happy place”. Suddenly my blood pressure has lowered, my heart rate has decreased, and I am, for this moment, calm.
This is important on so many levels. Probably, first on the list is that my dogs and my family members are going to be spared my spontaneous combustion as the stress finally reaches fever pitch… But most importantly, I have let my brain know that it does not have to live in the stress of the moment. This is monumental.
For me, getting outside, listening to the birds, digging in the dirt, taking a walk, and trying to notice little things that probably others would never see, and just realizing that there is something at work here that is far greater than me is the takeaway for all of this.
What might that look like for you? Listening to music? Going to the gym? Working a puzzle? Playing with the dog? Reading a book? Just taking a hot bath and unwinding for a moment? There is no “one size fits all”. It is, plain and simply, WHAT FORM OF CALGON TAKES YOU AWAY??? (Oops! I think I just told my age!)
This is a rather lengthy way to say, “Don’t forget that you matter too. You may be the glue that is holding it all together! Don’t leave the cap off and allow all of the glue to run out of the tube, then you just have a mess. Same principle. Take care of YOU!!! You are smart. You are beautiful. You are kind. You are important. YOU MATTER!!! Treat yourself accordingly…and HAPPY SPRING!!!”
Written by Karen Hyatt, Grandparent, Guest Writer & JSS Parent Resource Consultant
If you would like to share some of your thoughts and opinions on this subject with our Blog, please share them at info@justsaysomethingsc.org. #JSSBlog #JSSGuestWriter #SpringTime #SelfCare #Meditation #MentalHealth #GetHelp
#COVID19Prevention #SavingKidsSavingLives #MonitorYourKids #NutureYourKids #PreventACES #StartTalking #ConversationStarter #JustSaySomething #SubstancePrevention #Parenting #ParentingTips #SubstancePrevention
If you would like to get involved with Just Say Something, here are some ways you can help us all the time:
If you would like to get involved with Just Say Something, contact Virginia Henderson at 864-467-4099.
We look forward to working with you!
