From the Desk of Bob Simmons, Executive Director
|
Looking Back and Looking Forward -- Best Wishes to Anne Pfeiffer |
|
|
As May ended, so did the tenure of Anne Pfeiffer as executive director of Pat's Place Child Advocacy Center in Charlotte. Anne is moving home to Ohio, but she is leaving our community better than she found it when she arrived. As a result of her work, Pat's Place will continue to help children and their families overcome the trauma of abuse.
Named after longtime children's advocate Pat Wolfe who passed away unexpectedly in 2000, the idea for Pat's Place was incubated at the Council to address an acute problem faced by too many of the children we served: adding repeated interviews and examinations in police stations and medical facilities to the trauma of sexual abuse. As program director at the Council, Anne led the creation of Pat's Place as a program of the Council, replicating the national "child advocacy center" model and building toward the day when the program would move out on its own as an independent agency.
The Council and Anne achieved that goal in 2004, and Pat's Place served its first child in 2005. As with Anne's departure from Charlotte now, her departure from the Council then to serve as the founding executive director of Pat's Place produced mixed emotions: sorrow that she would no longer be a part of our daily lives, pride in her accomplishments, support for her new service, and hope for the children we knew she would help.
We wish Anne well, and we know that she will do great work for the children of her new community. In the meantime, the Council has renewed our commitment to identifying gaps in the systems serving the children of our community, like the compounded trauma that was eased by the creation of Pat's Place.
Pat's Place illustrates the Council's unique history and role in our community. Our social workers and lawyers represent and advocate for individual children, and through that work we find service gaps and help organize solutions with our community partners, even when the solution is not really consistent with our core work.
|
|
|
Join Council for Children's Right's in supporting #summershareCLT July 13 - 26 While summer time may seem like the slow season for most of us, it can be the time of greatest need for many non-profits. This July, Council for Children's Rights will join 44 other Charlotte nonprofits in asking our friends and neighbors to take this opportunity to support the Council and the community in an important way. During the weeks of July 13-26, #summershareCLT will inspire neighbors to help give "need" a vacation by making either a monetary or in-kind donation through our Amazon wish list. Details are coming soon - so "like" our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and check out www.cfcrights.org for more details in the coming weeks. When you make a gift of cash or an in-kind donation, know that you make a difference! Thanks! |
June 11, 2015
Mint Museum Uptown
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 pm
Tickets and Info HERE!
|
Reception at
The Duke Endowment
|
The Board of the Council hosted a reception for community leaders, donors, volunteers and friends of the Council in honor of our new executive director, Bob Simmons, on June 3. We had a wonderful time reconnecting with old and new friends as Bob shared our commitment to the mission and our vision for the future. See more photos
here.
|
Looking for Summer Programs for Kids?
|
Summer is here and the kids are out of school. For some that means a faster commute in the morning; for others it creates the challenge of finding places and programs that keep kids safe and well occupied during traditional working hours.
Charlotte is home to approximately 512 unique Out of School Time (OST) programs operated by 76 providers, and serving 60,000 students. But it isn't always easy to find out what's available and conveniently located. The Council's OST Program Locator Map can help. Over 500 programs at 65 locations are represented on the map, which is searchable by location, type of program, grade level and zip code. There you'll find some great basic information on each listing; hours of operation, contact info, transportation availability, web site URL, and more.
Children and communities benefit from OST programs and they are vitally important because:
- Students spend 75% of their time outside of traditional school.
- Studies suggest that communities save $3 for every $1 invested in OST programs.
- 30% of Juvenile crime occurs between 3-7pm (unofficially attributed to a lack of OST programs).
- OST Programs have shown to increase school attendance and high school graduation rates while decreasing teen pregnancy and teen crime.
Council's OST Locator Map can help you find after school programs that fit your needs. Check it out and feel free to pass along the link to your friends and neighbors.
|
|
|
|
Hosted by Young Ambassadors Group and
Young Affiliates of the Mint Museum
|
The Young Ambassadors Group of the Council and the Young Affiliates of the Mint Museum have joined forces to present an evening of inspiration and conversation.
Envision & Empower will explore the lives of nine young people who are realizing their dreams because of the power and the impact of the arts through captivating stories and thought-provoking photographs by nationally recognized photographer Ben Gately Williams.
It all takes place on
June 11 at the Mint Museum Uptown, a perfect setting for an exploration of art and its power to transform lives. The evening will start with
great food provided by Something Classic and live jazz performed by Buff Dillard. From 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., guests will also have the opportunity to explore the Museum's popular current offering,
Halston and Warhol: Silver and Suede, a captivating exhibition that, for the first time, unites the work of Roy Halston Frowick and Andy Warhol, offering a unique perspective on the intersections between their lives and creative practice.
The evening also includes remarks from special guest speakers,
Rabbi Judy Schindler
of Temple Beth El and
Reverend Donnie Garris of Antioch Baptist Church.
Please visit our
event website
to view details about the event and purchase tickets.
We hope you can join us on June 11th to celebrate the children of our community.
|
Judge Bill Jones - A Champion for Children and Friend to the Council
|
Here at the Council, we were sad to learn of the passing last week of Judge William "Bill" Jones, one of our community's true champions for children. His friend and colleague, Robert McCarter of the Council, remembers the vital role he played in our organization as well as in the larger community.
"Bill Jones was a vital part of the formation of the Children's Law Center," Robert shared. "In fact the whole idea was generated following a Board of Directors meeting of Advocates for Children in Court. Bill, Katie Holliday and I were all on that board and after the meeting we sat talking about the disparate results for children in various forums which had no common ties except for the children. The discussion ultimately got around to how a law office for children might help resolve some of those problems. It seemed a pretty fanciful idea at the time. The next day, however, Katie and I decided to see if we could actually pull it off. Of course the first person we talked to after that was Bill. He, along with Chief Judge Jim Lanning, helped us clear bureaucratic hurdles we could not have cleared without them.
"As a Juvenile Court Judge Bill was able to always keep his focus on the child and the family, a quality which was appreciated by all of those who practiced in his courtroom and which helped Mecklenburg County be on the cutting edge of children's issues nationally. He was always a friend and a positive force for children here and nationally."
His remarkable life and achievements are lovingly outlined in his memorial. Council for Children's Rights extends its sympathies to the family with gratitude for this life well lived.
|
Dealing Kids a Better Hand
|
"The truth is not only are many of our youth dealt a bad hand, but that in fact the deck is stacked against them. Now more than ever, they need to be embraced by the community and informed of their value... Young people need to know that we see them, and that we are not going to allow them to fall by the wayside or be disposed of. That instead we are going to fight on their behalf."
- James Ford, 2014 NC Teacher of the Year
The quote comes from a message delivered by James Ford at our February event, A Night for Children's Rights. Speaking on the theme "Imagine the Possibilities," James challenged us that evening to imagine all we can do, individually and together, to bring about real change for children who too often are neglected, abandoned and caught in situations over which they have little or no control.
June 30th marks the end of our fiscal year. We fight every day on behalf of children who have been dealt a bad hand. Please consider joining us in that fight by making an end-of-year gift to the work of the Council. You can do it now by clicking here. And thank you!
|
|
|
|
|
|