An astonishing 64,000 Arizona grandparents are raising their grandchildren, according to the Phoenix-based nonprofit Duet .
Substance abuse, incarceration, and mental health issues are on a long list of reasons for this.
“Because of these challenges, grandparents just feel alone. They feel overwhelmed. A lot of them are heartbroken because you know, their adult child has gone wayward and every family, every parent wants their child to be responsible,” said Patricia Dominguez, the Director of Kinship Care Services at Duet.
Thanks to a group of dedicated and caring people at Duet, hope and help are available. This group works to create opportunities for grandparents to share experiences during grandfamily outings.
“These are grandparents who don’t fit in. When they drop off the kids at school, there’s younger moms […] and this is grandma, who doesn’t fit that age range. So, this is an opportunity to meet friends and the kids get to see that they’re not the only ones being raised by grandparents,” said Dominguez.