Orange County Family Justice Center Foundation
PROGRAMS
Parents Creating Change
In 2015 we launched Parents Creating Change to foster positive parenting, self-esteem, conflict resolution, life skills and healthy relationships.
This program was launched in 2015 and we are very pleased with the feedback provided by our early participants.
Adopt A Family Program
We adopt approximately 70 families each year for the holidays. These families have at least one child who has participated in our youth violence prevention program. Donors will adopt a family and buy the gifts for the family. Skechers, Disney, Anaheim Fire & Rescue, among others, contribute to the event. Our budget is very modest, as most contributions are made in-kind. This budget represents the minimum sponsorship level of $250 per family. From 2009-2020 we have adopted families for the holidays and have served 532 families.
Ideally, families would be inspired to continue living free of violence. They would remember the kindness of strangers and would be inspired to continue working hard to change their circumstances for the better.
Back To School Program
We provide a $125 clothing shopping spree and $50 in school supplies (including a backpack) for 40 low-income children. All participating children have graduated from our Kids Creating Change or Real Teens Real Talk programs. From 2011-2020 we have adopted 383 youth for our Back to School event.
Ideally, these children are able to stay in contact with us, extending our positive impact on them. It provides another touch point, so they can access any additional violence prevention services. Ideally, these families would be inspired to continue on their path of independence from violence, by having at least a couple basic needs met.
Youth Violence Prevention Programs
In October 2011, we launched Kids Creating Change, now a 30-hour program, that empowers children with the necessary knowledge and skills to break the destructive cycle of abuse. This program covers defining physical and emotional violence, coping with stress, conflict resolution, playground bullying, being a good friend, physical fitness and effective parenting (which is taught in conjunction with parents). In July 2012, we launched Real Teens/Real Talk, now a 30-hour program, targeted at teenagers ages 13-18. This program covers self-esteem, communication, goal-setting, college preparation, healthy relationships, anger management, anti-bullying and setting boundaries. As of June 2020, 2,189 youth have graduated from our 111 Kids Creating program, our 57 Real Teens/ Real Talk program, in addition to 876 adults and from our 66 Parents Creating Change program. We have re-engaged with 278 of these youth graduates through our Booster Programs, and we have a 5 member Ambassador Board whose members are championing awareness and the prevention of family violence among teenagers. We offer college preparatory classes throughout the summer to provide familiarity with the college application and financial aid process to our youth, many of whom will be the first in their family to apply to college. We also created a new program in 2019 called Volun-teen Dream Team for those teens who are interested in volunteering and giving back to the community. The Volun-teen program has 17 members and continues to grow. Additionally we collaborate with GRIP and Waymakers to offer Girls Club in a number of local middle schools in Orange County. Our budget includes staff time to manage the programs.
We expanded to offer programs for teenagers, so we could positively impact entire families. We know violence in the home uniquely impacts youth, depending on their age. One long-term goal is for at-risk youth to attend multiple programs, as they mature; for instance, a child at age 8 could participate in our program for 5-8 year olds, at age 10, s/he could return for the program for 9-12 year olds and so on. Another long-term goal is for graduating teenagers to become facilitators of the program. We are starting this process, by engaging teenagers as volunteers to the younger children. We hope to have peer education models in place in the upcoming years. And, it would be a wonderful statement for a future facilitator to be a graduate of at least one of the programs.
CONTACT
Orange County Family Justice Center Foundation
150 W Vermont Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92805
Tracy Theodore
Phone: 714-765-1618