Thursday, December 23, 2010

Cases for Kids

Just a quick update before the holidays! We are beginning another push for Cases for Kids, our program where we provide bags to our children in foster care, as they are moving from one placement to the next. We began this project handing out bags through our volunteers, after or just before their child clients had been moved.

Through generous donations from the community, we were able to fill 54 bags with either school supplies and personal care items, or a small toy and personal care items. We also filled about 40 “emergency” bags, with the essentials; soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. We will now be able to give children a little something when they are moving, and hopefully help them while they are transitioning through this tough time.

We are also beginning a partnership with the Mecklenburg County Foster Adopt Parent Association, and they will be helping us in the distribution of our bags. Each of the Mecklenburg County Foster Adopt Parent Association officers will be keeping some bags at their homes, and foster parents will be able to contact them, say they are getting an emergency placement, and pick up a bag anytime. This will help us get bags to the children as they are being moved, rather than after. Some of our children are taken from their homes immediately, and are not able to pack any of their belongings. Hopefully with this partnership they will be able to receive a bag as they are arriving at their foster placement. We are always looking for donations of personal care items and school supplies, contact us if you think you can help!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

President Obama reauthorizes Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act


Yesterday, December 20th, 2010, President Obama reauthorized the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, which is the law that sets forth the government’s role in supporting child abuse research and data collection, establishes the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, and provides federal funding to states. These federal funds help support prevention programs, state assessments and investigations into child abuse allegations, prosecution of accused child abuse offenders, and also provide grants to nonprofit organizations. This law also lays out what constitutes child abuse and/or neglect.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Resource Guide

The Mecklenburg Guardian ad Litem Advocacy Foundation has added a new resource page to their website(http://meckguardian.org/resources). If you, or anyone you know, are in need of emergency assistance, or wondering where you can go to get affordable clothing, or utilities help, you can go to their website, click on the resources link and voila! This list consists of those resources that we are aware of, and we know that there must be so many more out there, so if we have missed anything, please let us know.

This list was put together to help our Guardian ad Litem volunteers, if they know of anything that their children might need, but just aren’t sure where to go. But of course I am sure there are resources there that everyone will find helpful.  Also, there is a list of links on this blog as well.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

ASC announces new fund supporting CMS schools

In yesterday’s Charlotte Observer, I was very happy to read an article about a new fund to help provide field trips and other cultural activities for Charlotte-Mecklenburg School students. As we all know there have been many cuts in place to the schools and the libraries and the children are the ones who lose out. Many businesses are pledging millions of dollars to help support these children. According to December 13th Charlotte Observer article, “ASC launches $1 million fund for schools,

The council has $600,000 pledged to what officials hope will be a new $1 million education fund, which will supplement the annual campaign that starts Jan. 19. Bank of America and the Wells Fargo Foundation have each pledged $200,000, while the Duke Energy Foundation and the C.D. Spangler Foundation have pledged $100,000 each.

The new drive strives to plug a hole left by cuts in public money, as well as a fund-raising slump and dwindling endowment earnings. The ASC now spends about $500,000 to provide opportunities for CMS students, compared with $1.5 million in previous years, said President Scott Provancher.

The result: CMS students are missing chances to visit new uptown arts museums and the newly renovated Discovery Place…

We are excited to hear about this fund, and it is also coming at a time when we ourselves are striving to begin our Beyond the Classroom initiative. We are hoping to raise money in order to send our abused and neglected foster children to one week of camp, or any extracurricular activity of their choice. Many children are going without these opportunities as their schools begin to end field trips, and art classes and choir or band classes are disappearing from our schools. In my personal opinion, children need these activities in order to raise their self-esteem and help them realize that they are talented young individuals. With such an emphasis being placed on academic grades lately, these activities are sure to help children feel better about themselves and their abilities. In order for our children to reach their full potential they need these opportunities.

We are very excited about the ASC fund for schools, and our own Beyond the Classroom initiative. It is great to see that our local corporations, and our citizens, recognize the importance of art, science, field trips and extracurricular activities.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Update! Update!!!


It has been a busy few weeks here at the Mecklenburg Guardian ad Litem Advocacy Foundation, and we have been away from the blog. Sort of. We have taken some time updating the look, and uploading some pictures, so make sure you check out our photo gallery and our new sponsors page. 

We have also been busy with Cases for Kids, and we are very excited about our new partnership with the Assistance League of Charlotte. They will be providing suitcases and luggage on an ongoing basis for this project, as well as donating other some other personal care and school supply items as they come through the store. So a giant THANK YOU to the Assistance League of Charlotte. 

Another major update on our Basketball Charity event with the Harlem Ambassadors. We are officially holding the event at Charlotte Catholic High School!! We are very excited to have this location, as one of our board members’ children attended the school, and only has the fondest memories. We are excited to really begin digging in to this endeavor, and things are really starting to pick up now. We have the official location, and we are beginning to recruit members for our team, and work on our ticket sales. We are reaching out to the community for people to play on our team, so if you or anyone you know, is interested in having a good time, getting a little exercise, and supporting a great cause, contact us at guardian@meckguardian.org. The best part is, you don’t even need to really play basketball in order to be on the team! The game will be divided into four quarters, two of which will be a more serious basketball game, and the other two will feature more comedy and a slower pace. So anyone can play! We are really looking forward to this event, keep coming back for more updates!!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Before You Change That Channel

This post is from my colleague Anamita Gall. 


This footage of a 16 year old boy escaping torture and captivity has recently been re-released as his case has come to a close. Kyle Ramirez had been held captive, abused and tortured by his relatives who were his legal guardians. The main reason we are posting this video is to highlight the need for all of us as community members to be aware of what is happening around us, in our neighborhoods, communities and cities. It is also a shining example of a child’s will to live. There are obviously many flaws within our civic structures, which can allow someone like Kyle to slip through the cracks unnoticed. This case is a classic scenario, where one can ask where was his social services caseworker, or where was his CASA or GAL volunteer. However, more importantly, I would like to urge everyone to take away this simple fact that we all can take responsibility for educating ourselves about problems in our community, and take the next steps to becoming engaged community members.
Today, it is easy to feel like we are being constantly bombarded by the news and media which thrive on focusing on the negative. It can be overwhelming for anyone to take in on a daily basis. We have to remember that turning off the TV, or jumping straight from the news homepage to Facebook, doesn’t make the stories go away. These stories don’t happen in faraway countries or even the county over, they take place everywhere, and while it seems impossible a small act can still make a difference. There are many ways to help. GAL and CASA volunteers simply put in the time to look out for a child in need and advocate on their behalf in court. At the Mecklenburg GALA Foundation we are thankful for and proud of all of the GAL volunteers we support who work to make sure there are less horror stories like this in Mecklenburg County.