The South Jersey Coping Clinic will host its annual back-to-school bash at its Marlton location on Saturday, Aug. 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Free haircuts, mental-health screenings, blood pressure and sugar checks, eye exams and free school supplies will be at the public’s disposal, and there will also be food, music and games.
“It’s been beautiful to see the community come together in such a hard and difficult time and really support each other,” said Vanessa Woods, CEO and founder of South Jersey Coping Clinic.
When Woods decided to step out on faith and start her own private practice, she convinced herself to sign a lease because she knew she wouldn’t do it if she didn’t just take the plunge. That happened during COVID, so Woods had to pivot from doing things in person to virtually.
Initially she thought it would only last two weeks, but it was well over a year before things could get back to normal. It’s been quite an adjustment, but that’s how the back-to-school event started. Because people were losing their jobs, getting sick or not being able to work during COVID – and with existing conditions like big families and the cost of school supplies – Woods wanted to help people in any way possible.
The event started out with giving away school supplies and free haircuts, but has grown to promote full person care. For Woods, the event is not only about confirmation for what she’s supposed to be doing, but that also there’s power in the community because it’s not something that she’s done by herself.
Year after year, Staples and Chick-fil-A have partnered with the event and volunteers help when there really isn’t any benefit to them other than to support community members, Woods emphasized.
Woods has been in the mental-health space since 2011 and has worked with people in different types of therapy, pretty much every level of care that one can think about. Her experience helped shape how she practices today because she developed a lot of tools and got to adapt to things that she thought worked well.
When she formed South Jersey Coping Clinic, she had a chance to fill in the gaps creatively and something that she’s learned is that people are hungry and looking for more out of their experiences.
“There’s no bad time to search and ask for help,” she explained. “Any time that you stop and ask for help is a good time … I tell people to think about it like a fire alarm versus a security system. Your fire alarm is going to notify you once there actually is an issue. A security system prompts you and nudges you to help prevent issues from happening …
Essentially, the whole purpose of therapy is preventative care, but a lot of times we see it only normalized as reactive care.”
The South Jersey Coping Clinic’s annual back-to-school bash will be held at its Marlton location on Saturday, Aug. 15.
Free haircuts, mental-health screenings, blood pressure and sugar checks, eye exams and school supplies will be at the public’s disposal.
