Awestruck kids enjoying a performance at last year's Family Expo.

The area's largest gathering of family-friendly resources will again convene at The Children's Trust annual Family Expo, happening on Saturday, September 8 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center. Parking, entry and participation are all FREE and eventgoers can expect fun, all-day activities indoors and out; exhilarating live music and dance performances; great giveaways and big-ticket raffle prizes; and invaluable opportunities to learn about the hundreds of academic, enrichment and wellness resources available to children and families in the community. This one's a must-not-miss!  

 

	We're ramping up our support of early learning.

The Children's Trust recently hosted a group of early learning and literacy leaders to strategize how we can further intensify our collective efforts on making sure children ages birth to 3 have access to the resources they need to excel at school and in life. The discussion was a timely precursor to our upcoming launch of Thrive by 5, a far-reaching and comprehensive new initiative created to support school readiness.    

Image: gaukharyerk/stock.adobe.com 

 

Interns and staff at The Children's Trust.

The Children's Trust granted eight local high school students paid internships this summer, and we couldn't have been more delighted with these hardworking, compassionate, intelligent and engaging young men and women - and two of them have agreed to stay on as part-time IT staff support through the school year! As a principal founding member of the Miami-Dade County Summer Youth Internship Program (SYIP), hosting our own interns is the personal side of the initiative for us, one in which we're ecstatic to take part. This year marked SYIP's third; the program has grown to involve 784 businesses and serve more than 2,500 students, the latter an increase of nearly 73 percent since its inception three years ago.

Separation anxiety? The Trust may have the answer.

	Big smiles for book bags at a back-to-school event.

Thousands of Miami-Dade children went back to school this month with a brand-new book bag, courtesy of The Children's Trust. More than 7,000 Trust book bags have been distributed at back-to-school events across the county, with another 1,000 expected to be given away at the Family Expo on September 8.

	Lisa Gwynn chats with The Trust's Emily Cardenas outside the UM Pediatric Mobile Clinic.

10 With The Trust, our biweekly chat show broadcast on Facebook Live that let's folks know how to connect with needed services and programs, delivered an impressively eclectic lineup over the summer. Guests included Notre Dame student Charlie Ortega Guifarro speaking of the substantial impact Leadership Learning Center has made on his life; Medical Director Lisa Gwynn sharing information about the UM Pediatric Mobile Clinic; and Miami-Dade County Public Defender Carlos J. Martinez, recipient of the Champions for Children award for Excellence in Public Policy.

Miami-Dade students today, business world rock stars tomorrow!

With the support of The Children's Trust and Citi Foundation, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) provided more than 100 Miami-Dade County students with a unique, three-week summer Bizcamp. Eight student businesses were ultimately selected to compete in a final Bizplan competition for a chance to win funding for their startup and an opportunity to advance to NFTE's national competition in NYC this October. Trust board member Pamela Hollingsworth and staffer Cravel Holmes served as judges for the local competition; staffer Bevone Ritchie will travel to New York to judge the national competition.

Trust President Jim Haj hitting the ropes.

Children's Trust President and CEO Jim Haj tackled a difficult ropes course to inspire children at the 2018 James Jones Legacy Foundation's Crew 22 Training Camp. The camp - attended by at-risk youth and sponsored in part by The Trust - provides unique opportunities for participants to develop their leadership skills, decision-making ability and confidence. Haj was joined by NBA champion James Jones, camp founder; Major Adrian Cummings of the Miami-Dade Police Department; and Jorge Zamanillo, executive director of HistoryMiami.

	Six-year-old Juliette is a #Read30 star reader!

We expanded our literacy supports with the June launch of #Read30, a social media call to action challenging parents, caregivers and mentors to sit with a child every day and read - to them and with them - for 30 minutes, taking a selfie each time and posting it to their Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram pages with the hashtag #Read30. After witnessing widespread enthusiasm for the challenge - the Barrios Salman family alone has shared 70 consecutive posts so far! - we've turned what was originally going to be a summer-only initiative into a school-year effort. Look for updates in Insider and on our website and social media pages.

	A 3-year-old separated from his mother at the U.S.-Mexican border.

In response to the cruel and inhumane separation of asylum-seeking parents from their children at our nation's borders, The Children's Trust CEO and board of directors took a stand for family reunification by sending a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security. We also joined a coalition of like-minded community stakeholders that includes the League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade County, ACLU Florida, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Haitian Women of Miami, Miami-Dade County Council of PTA/PTSA, New Florida Majority, United Teachers of Dade and Women's Fund of Miami-Dade.

Image: Victor J. Blue/New York Times

 

Michael's just one of many wonderful children searching for a loving family.

The Children's Trust unveiled a beautiful new Miami Heart Gallery website in June, and with it introduced an additional 15 foster children ready to be adopted into forever family homes. Two children on the site have been adopted since launch; 15 more have adoptions pending!

Image: Betsy Marotto