By June/July, most of the children in the US have closed the books for the school year. For some children, summer means camp, or family vacations. For teens, it could mean a job or internship. Perhaps it's just lazy days playing with friends. But just because children are not stuck behind desks doesn't mean they have to stop learning.

A new report published today by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) shows that seven years after the start of the great depression Latino and African-American families continue to face financial instability. The continued financial hardship is attributed to the massive loss of wealth and assets tied to the housing market.

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What do you say to someone who’s depressed? All too often, it’s the wrong thing. 

“People still have such a cloudy idea of what mental illness is,” says Kathleen Brannon, of Herndon, Va. 

“Sometimes people will say, ‘Oh, you’re depressed? Yeah, I’ve been depressed,’ and you realize just the way they say it that, nooo, it’s not quite the same thing. It’s not just that I’m feeling sad or blue.”

Below is a list of helpful things to tell someone battling depression, followed by what not to say, courtesy of the Depression Alliance.

It was summer evening as I made my way home on a one-lane road as radio hummed in the background.  As the host attributed the last song to a duo of brothers, my three-year-old daughter riding in the back seat asked what he had said. I told her that it was about two brothers – boys – singing. She said matter-of-factly in Spanish, “oh, falta una niña (they are missing a girl).” I laughed and thought, what an interesting and logical observation. According to Isabella, there should always be a girl involved in some way  -- no matter what the situation.

I was born and raised in a smedium town in Southwest Ohio. I was the only kid that ate arroz con pollo, but I didn’t think I was different. I believed everybody was unique and equal. Everybody’s grandma didn’t speak English. Everybody’s grandma made rice and beans.