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Editorial: We Must Stand For Children
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L
ong-time donor, volunteer, and former board president Martha Schmitt delivered an inspiring personal message of hope and commitment at A Night For Children's Rights. We share her remarks here.
We must stand for children.
When a child has no place to go, when no one who really cares, we must be there. When a child is involved in a bitter custody battle, when a child is homeless, in danger, accused, forgotten, we must be there.
While I am proud of more than 18 years of involvement with the Council, there is so much more work to be done. Now, more than ever, the children of our community need our help.
My husband and I have 6 children. We were blessed and lucky to be able to give them so many opportunities that provided them hope, opportunities that gave them a chance at a bright future, parents that cared and felt passionate about their future.
This is what motivates me to help children like those in the videos, because all children need to have hope. This is a better community for all of us when all children are moving toward positive futures.
For the past 7 years I have volunteered in the Council's custody advocacy program. We work as a team to investigate cases where the judge needs more information to make a decision on the permanent custody of a child.
We talk to parents, family members, friends, visit the home, look at records.
These cases are tough and make you sad. Sometimes it is overwhelming to know you have a child's future in your hands. Read more
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What A Night For Children's Rights!
We are so grateful! A Night for Children's Rights, the Council's largest annual fundraising event, was a huge success. Our theme was "Building Bright Futures" and nearly 600 guests gathered at Spirit Square on March 2 to help us do just that, raising a little over our goal of $300,000 in support of the Council's mission. We are grateful to all those who contributed, with special thanks to the Julie and Howard Levine for offering a challenge match to encourage and inspire first-time and increased contributions, up to $100,000!
The centerpiece of this year's program was a series of videos produced by Wonderworld Creative that featured stories about the issues faced by our client children and the impact that the intervention of the Council has had on their lives. We used composites and we changed details to avoid identification of the children. The stories are told by child actors. But these are real events that have touched real children in our community.
You can find the videos here. We encourage you to take a look. We are inspired by these stories and believe you will be too.
You can also view our photo gallery
with lots of pictures from the evening . Executive Director Bob Simmons speaks for so many when he says "I was struck by the palpable feelings of hopeful expectation shared by all in that theater for our children's futures. Staff members and volunteers harness that feeling when they work every day with children who have seen too many things go wrong. But as the videos remind us all, sometimes thing go right. Those are the moments when a child is ready to be helped to start down that better path, to become a child again full of dreams and potential, to see things begin to go right. Our supporters make that feeling and those moments possible."
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State of Mecklenburg's Children 2016 Now Available
We've still got a lot of work to do when it comes to the children of our community. The latest release of
Council for Children's Rights'
State of Mecklenburg's Children reports that 1 in 5 children in our county live in poverty and that the number of High-Poverty, High Minority schools continues to increase. While the total number of children living at or below the basic standard of living decreased slightly over the past year, the number is still above 2008 levels.
The report, released last month, is compiled by the Council's Director of Research and Public Policy, Emily Tamilin, using data from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools,
American Community Survey and a number of other sources. This update has added data points on juvenile justice, per-pupil spending and has a whole new look , thanks to Marketing@Large, which generously donated time and services to the creation of this new info-graphic.
Because of the way data is released,
The State of Mecklenburg's Children is updated semi-annually.
Our hope is that for the July edition, 2014 Mecklenburg County birth data will be available, as information on young children is a notable omission.
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Data is often very hard to find. If there is information people would like us to include in future editions, we are open to suggestions," Tamilin says. "Also, we have more data that expands on these snippets of information and are happy to discuss or provide additional information on request." (You can reach her at [email protected]). The report is available for viewing and for downloading at our web site,
here.
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March is National Social Work
Month!
Today, in the United States, more than 600,000 professional social workers tackle some of the toughest challenges facing our society. We appreciate the hard work of all of our social workers, staff and community partners, who protect and help children every day. Thank you! Your work is essential to the lives and well-being of countless children and families in our community!
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Read Charlotte Needs Your Input
 Read Charlotte is developing a strategic plan to double third grade reading proficiency to 80% by 2025. They've asked the Council to help in getting out the word about a survey for parents and guardians that they are distributing throughout the community. This is designed to give them a better understanding of how well current educational services in Charlotte-Mecklenburg are helping children learn to read and what needs to be improved. The Council, along with The United Way of Central Carolinas and other agencies, are helping them to connect with families, educators and youth to get their perspectives.
If you're a parent or guardian, we hope you'll take five minutes to complete the survey and let Read Charlotte know what you think:
Your input and insights are valued and will help them make better decisions. Feel free to forward this link to others who might also be interested in completing this quick survey. Deadline to submit is April 22.
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| March 24 - March Madness for Kids |
Join the Young Ambassadors Group for a lively evening of b-ball, pick-em games and fun, all in support of the Council. The madness begins at
6:30 p.m
. at
BlackFinn in the Epicentre.
What a great way to meet a group of smart and interesting young professionals who are committed to helping children in this community. Plus, there's beer!
Read more
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March 31 - Prevention Press Conference
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April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. The pinwheel has been adopted nationally as a symbol of child abuse prevention, representing the carefree childhood all kids deserve. The Mecklenburg Child Abuse Prevention Team is a group of over a dozen agencies (including the Council) who work together to build awareness of the role we all play in preventing abuse and keeping kids safe. Join us on
March 31 at 10:00 a.m. at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse for a press conference to launch our April activities including social media campaigns, pinwheel garden plantings and more. Learn more about how you can get involved at our new Web site:
Meck4Kids.org.
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April 6 - First Wednesdays Workshop
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School Discipline Training - 12:00 noon
IEP, FBA, BIP, MDR, OSS, ISS. What does this alphabet soup mean? Come to the First Wednesdays series on school discipline and find out! Its free!
Data retrieved from the Office of Civil Rights shows that students with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by school disciplinary decisions, often resulting in suspensions and exclusions from school which impedes the child's learning and overall academic achievement. Often the suspensions are for behaviors that are caused by the child's disability. This presentation will help you to understand the laws protecting children with disabilities and how to better advocate for your child's behavioral and emotional needs.
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April 27-30 - Charlotte Wine and Food Weekend
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Once again, the Council has been selected as one of five agencies to benefit from the Charlotte Wine and Food Weekend, held April 27 - April 30. Now in its 27th year, the CWFW has contributed over $4.4 million dollars to the community over the last quarter century. We are grateful for their support and look forward to seeing you at one of their many events. More information and details on all the weekend activities can be found at
their web site. Be sure and mention the Council when you buy your tickets!
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May 6 - Custody Advocacy Training
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The Council offers some great volunteer opportunities through our Custody Advocacy Program (CAP) for both attorneys and non-attorneys. The next CAP training will be held on May 6, 2016.
The day-long workshop takes place here at the Children & Family Services building. If you are interested, or would like more information, contact Volunteer Coordinator Ann Dorsett at [email protected].
Learn more about volunteer and other training opportunities
here
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With Your Help
Thank you for all you do to support
the Council.
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