HELPme: Join us for an interview with Kerrie Ackerson the creator of an app to help students, staff, & families.

Now more than ever, students and staff need a comprehensive safety and wellness program that includes a pathway to anonymously connect with assigned helpers i.e. (Family Engagement Coordinators, School Counselors, Social Workers, School Nurses, and others).

The pandemic has affected millions of families and communities. Families have faced the loss of a loved one, social isolation, food insecurity, financial struggles, in-home neglect, abuse, and violence. Many are hesitant to seek help. Others don’t know where to turn to get help quickly and easily.

Introducing HELPme: A Healing-Centered Approach to School Safety
HELPme is designed to meet the needs of the school community by providing access and linkages to resources for basic needs, mental health, and family resilience while ensuring the privacy and dignity all people deserve.

Why HELPme?

We Know What Builds Child and Family Resilience

o The availability of educational funding and community resources has never been greater, but linkages and access to basic needs and other resources must be simple, discreet, and accessible to families, staff, and community members

o Linking caregivers to supports with dignity and privacy will increase trust, encourage engagement, and reduce re-traumatization

o Working with trusted solutions that emphasize positive engagement and support will yield more information, uncover more opportunities for early intervention, and help build family resilience

o If caregivers are struggling, kids must be trained, empowered, and encouraged to ask for and receive help to reduce adverse childhood experiences and developmental trauma

Delivered on our state-of-the-art platform, HELPme provides support and resources to students, families, and staff through a healing centered interfaceThe HELPme app by STOPit solutions trains all school users on the importance of asking for help. The recognition of asking for help as a critical life skill, and a safe way to practice asking for and receiving help from one’s first interaction with school.

Kerrie Ackerson is currently the VP of Government Affairs for STOPit Solutions—a very fancy way of saying “Find government money and access it to help kids.” She is the creator of the HELPme App, a mobile and computer app to aid students, staff, and families in getting support and resources while maintaining the dignity and privacy that all people deserve. Prior to joining STOPit, Kerrie worked for an education service agency in northern Wisconsin for 12 years with a focus on school safety. Kerrie’s career also includes working with mentally ill incarcerated youth and adults, running a county Division of Child and Family Services, working on juvenile justice and delinquency prevention funding and policy under three governors as the Juvenile Justice Specialist for Wisconsin, and being voted National Juvenile Justice Specialist by her peers. Kerrie is a proud foster and adoptive mother.

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