Trusted Sources

08/01/2025

Creating a supportive space for youth to share their feelings isn't just nice—it's essential.

When we encourage open communication, we empower our children to navigate their emotions confidently.

Without this support, we risk them feeling isolated, lost, and misunderstood.

Studies show that emotional expression enhances resilience, social skills, and overall well-being.

Let’s transform the way we listen, so they can thrive.

07/29/2025

07/28/2025

Wear Hope. Give Help. 💛

We’ve launched a special t-shirt and sweatshirt collection to honor Lisa Sullivan’s memory and support two causes close to our hearts.

👕 50% of proceeds go directly to Lisa’s children, Ally and Jack.
👕 50% supports struggling single moms facing emotional and financial hardship.

Your shirt isn’t just clothing—it’s compassion in action.

👉 Grab yours here: https://form.jotform.com/243368020120139

07/14/2025

🎒 Back-to-school isn't just hard on the kids.
The forms. The fees. The friend drama. The fall sports schedules. The feeling like you’re supposed to have it all together.

If you feel the pressure building already—you’re not alone.
We see you, Mom. We see you, Dad.
Let’s take this one step at a time, together.

👉 Follow us this week for simple ways to reset your mind, regulate your home, and reconnect with your kids—before the bell even rings.

06/26/2025

Come out to Red Robin today for lunch or tonight, and 20% of your meal goes to help local families!

06/25/2025

Parenting is hard enough — but single moms are navigating a world where childhoods are consumed by phones, screens, and social media like never before. The pressure to protect and support kids’ mental health is immense, especially when they feel alone in that fight.

We see you, and we believe you deserve more than you have right now — more support, more tools, more people to lean on. 🌱💛

06/23/2025

The Invisible Weight

Single moms carry an invisible weight every day — balancing work, bills, school events, mental health crises, and more, often without a partner to lean on. It’s exhausting.

And it’s even harder when their children are facing unprecedented struggles like anxiety, depression, and social isolation — burdens no generation before them has had to bear.

Let’s recognize these moms for the strength they show in simply showing up every single day. 💜

05/30/2025

💔 We Lost My Sister, Lisa 💔

This post is hard to write, but it’s one we feel compelled to share — not just in grief, but with intention.

Recently, our family lost my sister, Lisa, to su***de.

She was a mother, a protector, a fierce advocate for her kids, and someone who showed up for others again and again — even while she was silently struggling. A woman who served her country with the CIA, gave selflessly, and still found herself in a place of deep pain, shame, and isolation.

Her story is heartbreakingly common, especially among single mothers doing everything they can to hold it all together. Financial pressure, emotional burnout, lack of support, and the crushing weight of shame and silence can make people feel like they’re completely alone.

Please, let this be a reminder:

✔️ Check in on people.
✔️ Check in again.
✔️ Check in with care.
✔️ Check in with purpose.
✔️ Don’t stop checking in.

We know we can’t save everyone… but we can absolutely try to. And that effort matters.

At Trusted Sources, we’ve made it our mission to walk alongside parents and families facing mental health battles. This loss has only deepened our resolve.

If you're struggling, reach out.
If someone crosses your mind, call them.
If you see someone hiding behind a smile, ask twice.

And if you want to help us continue building hope and community, you can support our work here:
https://app.theauxilia.com/pay/11ff9801-797e-ca77-89de-2479156800fc

We love you, Lisa. We’re not stopping.

05/08/2025

🧠 Thoughtful Thursday: “I’m here. I see you. I love you.”
Sometimes, those 8 words are the most powerful thing you can say to your child, even when you don’t know how to fix the problem.
Let connection lead the way. 💬

05/02/2025

From Survival to Reconnection: A Parent’s Practical Guide to a Mentally Healthy Summer

When the school year ends, parents often face a strange mix of relief and dread. The rigid schedule vanishes, but so does the structure — and with it, the quiet hours. For many families, summer becomes a time of stress: how to fill the days, how to keep kids off screens, how to stay sane in the chaos.

But what if we reframed summer?

Instead of treating it as something to "survive," summer can be a season of reconnection — with our kids, ourselves, and the rhythms that nurture mental health. It doesn’t require expensive camps or elaborate travel. What it needs most is intentionality.

Here’s a practical, flexible guide to creating a mentally healthy summer that brings your family closer — without burning you out.

1. Embrace the Transition — Together
The sudden change from school structure to free-flowing days can feel jarring. Many kids — especially teens — cope by retreating: into their rooms, into devices, into long hours of sleep.

✅ What to try:

Name the shift. Have a family meeting and talk about how summer will feel different. Ask your kids what they’re looking forward to, and what worries them.

Create a new rhythm together. It doesn’t need to be rigid — just predictable. Include sleep, screen time, meals, movement, and time for connection.

2. Create a "Summer Bucket List for the Soul"
Not everything has to be productive or educational — but meaningful is good. Let your kids (and you) pick a few things that stretch them in gentle ways.

✅ Ideas for the list:

Try cooking a new recipe

Learn how to change a tire or do laundry

Volunteer somewhere once

Read one book you choose yourself

Take a walk without your phone and notice what you hear

Keep the list visible, and celebrate progress without pressure.

3. Build in Mini-Moments of Connection
Connection doesn’t require full-day excursions. What makes the biggest difference is consistency and intention.

✅ Try these no-cost connection ideas:

Daily "High/Low" check-in at dinner or bedtime

Tech-free hour every afternoon

Walk-and-talks around the neighborhood

Teach each other something — let your child teach you a video game move or TikTok trend, and you teach them how to write a check or plant herbs

4. Give Space, But Not Isolation
Teens especially need independence, but extended isolation (in bedrooms, on devices) can increase anxiety and depression.

✅ Create "gentle structure":

Invite them to design their own daily routine

Offer choices instead of commands: “Would you rather walk the dog at 10 or 3?”

Keep expectations clear: “Yes to downtime, no to disappearing for 10 hours”

5. Make Mental Health Part of the Conversation
Summer is a great time to normalize talking about feelings and stress without the time crunch of school nights.

✅ Use moments of quiet to ask:

“What’s been feeling heavy or confusing lately?”

“Who’s someone you admire and why?”

“How does your body feel when you’re anxious?”

“What helps you reset when you’re in a funk?”

You don’t need to solve — just listen and stay curious.

6. Don’t Try to Fill Every Hour
If you can afford a camp or two, great. If not — you’re not failing your kids. Boredom isn’t dangerous. In fact, it can lead to creativity, curiosity, and self-started learning.

✅ Give them a "Boredom Menu":

Build something with your hands

Journal your thoughts or draw something you’re feeling

Call a grandparent or friend

Rearrange your room

Write a short script and film it with your phone

7. Care for Yourself, Too
Summer can feel like it’s all about your kids. But your mental health matters just as much.

✅ Protect time for your own renewal:

Set boundaries (You don’t have to be the cruise director 24/7)

Trade time with another parent for breaks

Step outside alone each day — even for 5 minutes

Let your kids see you prioritize rest, laughter, prayer, hobbies, or friendships

You’re modeling healthy adulthood — and that matters more than a perfectly planned day.

Closing Thoughts: Let Summer Be a Season of Becoming
Your child doesn’t need to come out of summer with a new language or a scholarship-worthy portfolio. But if they come out of it feeling closer to you, more capable in their daily life, and better able to recognize and regulate their emotions — you’ve done something extraordinary.

And that starts with small, repeated, intentional acts of connection.