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Over 1,200 votes have been cast in the Super Heroes for Prevention Competition, is yours one of them? Take the time to give back to one of your favorite children’s charities, whether it be PASOs – who is currently in the lead at over 290 votes, – Pendleton Place, or BirthMatters, by voting in our Competition.
The rules are simple, you can vote once every 24 hours for your favorite charity listed here. On May 25 at 5 p.m. voting will end, and four nonprofits across the state- one in the Midlands, the Lowcountry, the Pee Dee and the Upstate – will receive $1,000.
Check out organizations in the lead below:
PASOs – 329 votes – The mission of this organization is to mobilize individuals, families and partners to provide, protect and promote resources for healthy Latino women, children and communities.
Pendleton Place Children’s Shelter – 293 votes – The mission of this organization is to serve abused and neglected children and youth by providing protective shelter and developmentally appropriate care in a nurturing environment.
BirthMatters – 241 votes – The mission of this organization is to reduce disparities in birth outcomes for low-income mothers in Spartanburg and Cherokee County by providing high quality educational and emotional support to pregnant mothers before, during and after birth.
A Child’s Haven – 208 votes – The mission of this organization is to provide therapeutic intervention and prevention services for families and their young children who experience developmental delays as a result of abuse, neglect or poverty.
Remember to check out all the other amazing organizations in the running and vote for your Super Hero, before May 25!
We have 22 organizations competing to be one of four Superheroes for Prevention! We will have four winners, one from each of the four regions of South Carolina – Upstate, Lowcountry, Pee Dee and Midlands. Winning organizations will receive $1,000. To compete for the Superhero prize, organizations also must be a 501 c (3) non-profit organization.
The organizations from the Midlands include: Palmetto Place Children’s Shelter, PASOs, Family Connection of SC, Inc., Healing Species, and Safe Kids Sumter County.
Palmetto Place Children’s Shelter works to provide a safe and nurturing emergency shelter bringing together a broad range of services for children who are victims of abuse and neglect.
PASOs works to mobilize individuals, families and partners to provide, protect and promote resources for healthy Latino women, children and communities.
Family Connection of SC, Inc. strives to strengthen and encourage families of children with special healthcare needs through parent support.
Healing Species would like to change the world through compassion, education and outreach, intercepting the cycle of violence, thereby reaching peace on earth for all God’s creatures. The Healing Species 11-week, Violence Prevention and Compassion Education program teaches youth how to overcome abuse, neglect, and apathy by teaching them how to: advocate for themselves and identify abusive situations; assertively say no; get help; grieve and communicate their feelings; heal themselves by building a strong heart through giving love, rather than retaliating or bullying in response to their pain; and lead with acts of kindness and respect.
Safe Kids Sumter County works to prevent injury in children at home, at play and on the way.
“Just as parents need a social network to keep their families strong and their children safe, we know that super heros need friends too, ” said Sue Williams, Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina. “It is exciting for us to reach out to so many great organizations across our state doing important work on behalf of children and their families. We want them to know how much they are appreciated.”
Vote for your favorite Midlands Superheroes on the Children’s Trust Facebook Page. Each Facebook fan can vote once a day (every 24 hours), so be sure to tell your friends and family to keep those votes coming in for your nonprofit to win $1,000.
We have 22 organizations competing to be one of four Superheroes for Prevention! We will have four winners, one from each of the four regions of South Carolina – Upstate, Lowcountry, Pee Dee and Midlands. Winning organizations will receive $1,000. To compete for the Superhero prize, organizations also must be a 501 c (3) non-profit organization.
The organizations from the Upstate include: Anderson Interfaith Ministries (AIM), Foothills Alliance, Greenville First Steps, A Child’s Haven, Safe Kids Upstate, REACH Upstate Inc., Birth Matters, Julie Valentine Center, Communities In Schools of Greenville, Inc., Compass of Carolina and Pendleton Place Children’s Shelter.
Anderson Interfaith Ministries works to connect people with support, resources, and education so they can empower themselves to be self-sufficient. For more than 22 years, AIM has served families through multiple programs and services geared toward primary prevention. One program in particular, “Women And Children Succeeding (WACS)” takes this one step further by removing barriers that prevent families from emerging from poverty. Please visit the following link to see Lorin’s Story, a short video that speaks in way that can’t be conveyed through any words typed here. http://www.aimcharity.org/videos/55-lorins-wacs-story.html
Foothills Alliance offers child abuse prevention services to families at risk in Anderson County, to provide crisis intervention and support services to child and adult survivors of severe physical and sexual abuse and to serve as their advocates in Anderson and Oconee Counties. Foothills Alliance offers prevention, intervention, and support services to survivors of sexual assault and child sexual abuse in Anderson and Oconee counties in South Carolina.Foothills Alliance is a nonprofit agency that encompasses three programs: Child Advocacy Center, Prevent Child Abuse, and Sexual Trauma Center.
Greenville First Steps facilitates a collaborative community partnership for measurably improving the early childhood development of all children in Greenville County.
A Child’s Haven provides therapeutic intervention and prevention services for families and their young children who experience developmental delays as a result of abuse, neglect or poverty.
Safe Kids Upstate works to prevent accidental childhood injury, the leading cause of death in children 14 years and younger. We serve families with children, focusing on those families with children 14 years and younger. Along with our coalition partners, Safe Kids Upstate has been able to contribute significantly to reducing the number of deaths of children due to accidental injury. Safe Kids Upstate provides specific and effective programs educating children and their families about how to be safe at home‚ at play and on the way. Safe Kids along with SC kids count has been able to identify the safety concerns develop programs to help reduce the risk of injury to all of our children.
REACH Upstate Inc. promotes healthy lifestyles and families in Spartanburg County through prevention education. One way we do this is through the “PECS” program, Parent Education for Child’s Success.
Birth Matters strives to reduce disparities in birth outcomes for low-income mothers in Spartanburg and Cherokee County by providing high quality educational and emotional support to pregnant mothers before, during and after birth.
Julie Valentine Center works to end child abuse and sexual assault through prevention, education, investigation, and treatment.
Communities In Schools of Greenville, Inc. surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
Compass of Carolina strives to strengthen the community by strengthening individuals and families.
Pendleton Place Children’s Shelter serves abused and neglected children and youth by providing protective shelter and developmentally appropriate care in a nurturing environment. Our vision is to see that all children in our community receive the support, encouragement and resources needed to ensure their physical well-being, develop strong self confidence and achieve their full potential.
“Just as parents need a social network to keep their families strong and their children safe, we know that super heros need friends too, ” said Sue Williams, Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina. “It is exciting for us to reach out to so many great organizations across our state doing important work on behalf of children and their families. We want them to know how much they are appreciated.”
Vote for your favorite Upstate Superheroes on the Children’s Trust Facebook Page. Each Facebook fan can vote once a day (every 24 hours), so be sure to tell your friends and family to keep those votes coming in for your nonprofit to win $1,000.
We have 22 organizations competing to be one of four Superheroes for Prevention! We will have four winners, one from each of the four regions of South Carolina – Upstate, Lowcountry, Pee Dee and Midlands. Winning organizations will receive $1,000. To compete for the Superhero prize, organizations also must be a 501 c (3) non-profit organization.
The organizations from the Pee Dee include: Billie Hardee Home for Boys, Safe Kids Pee Dee Coastal and Lighthouse Ministries.
Billie Hardee Home for Boys works to provide superior care to children and families in South Carolina. For over thirty years, the organization has been a safe haven for abandoned, abused, neglected, and delinquent teenage boys. Most importantly, we are a family of like minded and caring individuals who are dedicated to serving our clients with the highest standard of care. We are a ministry dedicated to helping children and families 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our mission is to improve the quality of life for children and famiies by providing community-oriented services of prevention and intervention through the collaboration of existing resources and the development of new resources.
Safe Kids Pee Dee Coastal strives to prevent accidental childhood injury, the leading cause of death in children 14 and under. Safe Kids Pee Dee/ Coastal, led by McLeod Health, is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing accidental injury. Safe Kids Pee Dee/ Coastal led by McLeod Health is funded in part by the McLeod Health Foundation.
Lighthouse Ministries aims to provide financial assistance to families and individuals with limited resources. It helps with mortgages, rent, utilities, medicine prescriptions, traveler’s aid, food, and assists the participant in finding additional resources to move beyond their crisis.
“Just as parents need a social network to keep their families strong and their children safe, we know that super heros need friends too, ” said Sue Williams, Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina. “It is exciting for us to reach out to so many great organizations across our state doing important work on behalf of children and their families. We want them to know how much they are appreciated.”
Vote for your favorite Pee Dee Superheroes on the Children’s Trust Facebook Page. Each Facebook fan can vote once a day (every 24 hours), so be sure to tell your friends and family to keep those votes coming in for your nonprofit to win $1,000.
We have 22 organizations competing to be one of four Superheroes for Prevention! We will have four winners, one from each of the four regions of South Carolina – Upstate, Lowcountry, Pee Dee and Midlands. Winning organizations will receive $1,000. To compete for the Superhero prize, organizations also must be a 501 c (3) non-profit organization.
The organizations from the Lowcountry include: The Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center, Safe Kids Trident area led by Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Hospital and Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area.
The Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center works to serve victims of child abuse in Charleston and Berkeley County. We provide medical, therapy, forensic, law enforcement, and most importantly hope and healing for the victims and their families. We also have a strong community outreach preventative program, in addition to our center participating in the most cutting edge research and treatment for child abuse victims and their families.
Safe Kids Trident area led by Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Hospital strives to prevent unintentional childhood injuries at home, at play and on the way. Our aim is to teach families to do simple things all the time to prevent unintentional injuries and base our programs on credible data about injuries, so that they address real problems in our community. MUSC’s mission is to improve health and maximize quality of life through education, research, and patient care.
Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area works to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
“Just as parents need a social network to keep their families strong and their children safe, we know that super heros need friends too, ” said Sue Williams, Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina. “It is exciting for us to reach out to so many great organizations across our state doing important work on behalf of children and their families. We want them to know how much they are appreciated.”
Vote for your favorite Lowcountry Superheroes on the Children’s Trust Facebook Page. Each Facebook fan can vote once a day (every 24 hours), so be sure to tell your friends and family to keep those votes coming in for your nonprofit to win $1,000.
Vote for your favorite organization in South Carolina that is working to keep kids safe! Visit our Facebook page, become a fan and cast your vote today!
Four of these organizations will win $1,000 based on your votes. Fans can vote up to one time per day. Voting will end at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 25.
We will have four winners, one from each of the four regions of South Carolina – Upstate, Lowcountry, Pee Dee and Midlands. Winning organizations will receive $1,000. To compete for the super hero prize, organizations also must be a 501 c (3) non-profit organization.
“Just as parents need a social network to keep their families strong and their children safe, we know that super heros need friends too, ” said Sue Williams, Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina. “It is exciting for us to reach out to so many great organizations across our state doing important work on behalf of children and their families. We want them to know how much they are appreciated.”
The criteria for the contest are simple. We are looking for organizations that work to strengthen and support public and private prevention efforts that keep South Carolina’s children safe.
From the submissions we will launch a Facebook voting contest where fans will vote for their favorite organization. At the end of the voting period, the organization with the most votes will be declared a Superhero for Prevention.
We will have four winners, one from each of the four regions of South Carolina – Upstate, Lowcountry, Pee Dee and Midlands. Winning organizations will receive $1,000. To compete for the Superhero prize, organizations also must be a 501 c (3) non-profit organization.
“Just as parents need a social network to keep their families strong and their children safe, we know that super heros need friends too, ” said Sue Williams, Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina. “It is exciting for us to reach out to so many great organizations across our state doing important work on behalf of children and their families. We want them to know how much they are appreciated.”
If you are an organization working to keep kids safe, please submit your nonprofit for a chance to win $1,000. Just go to our Facebook page at facebook.com/ChildrensTrustSC.
The Facebook contest for Superheros for Prevention has been designed to coordinate with recently launched certificate recognition program of the Children’s Trust – Heroes for Prevention. To learn more about that initiative, please visit Heroes for Prevention.
By Heather Dawkins Stalker, special to the Children’s Trust
Resilience: The ability to bounce back when times are hard. To find a way around the obstacles in our lives. To face up to our problems and find solutions for them. To keep on keeping on.
Resilience is an important quality in any life, but especially in the life of a parent. Not only do we have to find our own way out of a crisis, but we have to find a way out for the children who depend on us, as well. And sometimes we have to keep our crisis from becoming their crisis, to keep a devastating circumstance from swallowing our family in its wake.
It’s no surprise, then, that resilience is one of the Protective Factors identified by the Center for the Study of Social Policy as important to a healthy, functioning family. And it’s no surprise that a lack of resilience can lead to abuse or neglect for children. Parents overwhelmed by circumstances, unable to see their way out, lash out at their children, venting their mounting frustration. Or they turn inward, losing touch with those around them, including their children.
The Julie Valentine Center in Greenville County has a program that focuses on parents who have turned away from their children or forgotten them in the midst of their own struggles in life. The program, called “Fathers are Essential,” is for those whom society often dubs “deadbeat dads”–fathers who don’t pay child support and who have little or nothing to do with their children. Some participants are in jail at the Greenville County Detention Center (most for non-payment of child support); some are facing drug charges with the Solicitor’s Office. Some have been mandated by the court to participate in classes on parenting, and some come on their own to the Upstate Fatherhood Coalition for the classes offered there because they realize that they need to find a way to reconnect with their children.
All have, in some way, lost their way as fathers.
“Fathers are Essential” seeks to get these dads back on track. The twelve-week program offers classes in topics such as balancing work and family; discipline, rewards, and punishment; and handling and expressing emotions. Since many participants are in trouble for nonpayment of child support, the program addresses that issue, as well. However, “Our goal is not only to get them to pay their child support, but to get them involved in their children’s lives,” says Shannon Johnson, Parent Education Coordinator for the Julie Valentine Center.
Though the dads in the program are facing huge issues in their personal lives, Fathers are Essential seeks to help these dads realize that, even at their lowest point in life, they are still “essential” in their children’s lives. “Just realizing how important their role is seems to affect them,” says Johnson. She says that role can be as simple as making a phone call to let their child know they care, contacting the child’s teacher, or going to lunch at school.
“We ask them to think back to their own childhood and what they missed. We do a lot of going back—to what you missed and what you would have wanted your father to do—and then moving forward.”
Fathers are Essential refers the dads to other services, as well—organizations that can help them get back on their feet financially and personally so that they can better attend to the needs of their children.
Johnson, who keeps tabs on former participants, says the program is working. “Fathers are reporting that they’re getting involved with their kids. They’re finding new ways to do it,” she says. And Johnson says the majority of the parents continue to maintain that involvement. “They realize, ‘There’s a part of life that my kids needs that only I can give to them as a father.’”
The Children’s Trust wears many hats in our work to keep kids safe in South Carolina. At any given time we are working on safety programming through Safe Kids South Carolina and at others we are advocating on behalf of children at our statehouse. In between there are many other things we do in our work that make a families stronger to help keep children safe.
This time of year, during April and Child Abuse Prevention Month, the pinwheels for prevention, child abuse prevention, have center stage.
The term “child abuse” is an uncomfortable one. It conjures an image of a helpless, bruised and beaten child at the hands of a cruel, uncaring adult. It’s an image we have a hard time getting past – one that makes us feel helpless and overwhelmed, just like the child we picture.
But the fact is child abuse can occur in homes where parents genuinely love their children. It can occur among those who feel helpless themselves, trapped in life circumstances that make cool, calm parenting (difficult for any of us) even more difficult. And the fact is, we are not helpless to stop it. We as a community can help put an end to child abuse and help both the children and the parents find their way onto a better path.
Several years ago Prevent Child Abuse America moved away from the blue ribbon. You may remember “Blue Ribbon Sunday” where we memorialized those children that died at the hands of an abuser. Those cases are tragic and heartbreaking and never forgotten.
But the messaging and our work have shifted – we don’t ever want to tie a blue ribbon again. We want to focus on community activities and public policies that prioritize prevention right from the start to make sure child abuse and neglect never occur.
We want every child to have a pinwheel childhood, filled with good memories, happy memories of thriving in a nurturing environment
How do we do that? The first step is to focus on the skills, supports and knowledge that keep kids safe. This collective safety net is called the protective factors.
Protective factors are conditions in families and communities that serve as buffers, helping parents who might otherwise be at risk of abusing their children to find resources, supports or coping strategies that allow them to parent effectively, even under stress.
Protective factors are positive attributes that strengthen all families, not just those at risk. The protective factors include
Social connections
Parental resilience
Concrete supports in times of need
Nurturing and attachment
Knowledge of parent and of youth and child development
In the coming weeks we will be exploring each of these important areas — what they mean for families and showcase work that is being done across our state to keep kids safe. Please join us for this collective conversation and help us give meaning and context to important work in South Carolina.
We invite you to join us on Facebook and comment on this blog.
Thank you for joining in this important work to keep kids safe in South Carolina.
Every day, every hour, dedicated organizations are working to keep South Carolina’s children safe. Sometimes this work can be hard and heart breaking, and often it comes without recognition. These individuals and organizations are heroes in our communities and heroes to the children they serve.
If you are an organization working as a Superhero for kids, please submit your name through the online facebook form.
The criteria for the contest are simple. We are looking for organizations that work to strengthen and support public and private prevention efforts that keep South Carolina’s children safe.
From the submissions we receive by Friday, April 30, we will launch a Facebook voting contest where fans will vote for their favorite organization. At the end of the voting period, the organization with the most votes will be declared a Superhero for Prevention.
We will have four winners, one from each of the four regions of South Carolina – Upstate, Lowcountry, Pee Dee and Midlands. Winning organizations will receive $1,000. To compete for the Superhero prize, organizations also must be a 501 c (3) non-profit organization.
“Just as parents need a social network to keep their families strong and their children safe, we know that Superheros need friends too, ” said Sue Williams, Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina. “It is exciting for us to reach out to so many great organizations across our state doing important work on behalf of children and their families. We want them to know how much they are appreciated.”
The Facebook contest for Superheros for Prevention has been designed to coordinate with recently launched certificate recognition program of the Children’s Trust – Heroes for Prevention. To learn more about that initiative, please visit Heroes for Prevention.
To learn more about Child Abuse Prevention Month in South Carolina, please visit Child Abuse Prevention Month to learn more.
