April is recognized as National Child Abuse Awareness Month. The anxiety, instability, and uncertainty regarding COVID-19 can put additional pressure on already vulnerable children, youth, and families. Child welfare providers, like Pendleton Place, are uniquely positioned to support families in this time of increased stress and their services and expertise are needed now more than ever.
While the entire country continues to feel the COVID-19 pandemic climbing to its peak, here at Pendleton Place, we carry on with critical, essential services. We are proud to share with partners at the local, state, and national level the stories of commitment and dedication coming out of Pendleton Place. While many typical foster care placements are unavailable during the crisis, our residential facility remains open and accepting new teens in need of a safe home (we are at 100% capacity at Smith House!). We have also opened our medical evaluation facilities to even more children in crisis in partnership with Prisma Health Children's Hospital. Our Youth Resource Center team is seeing a new wave of unsheltered youth visiting our drop-in shelter, and they have moved multiple youth off of the streets and into safe, stable housing units in recent weeks. And we've done all of this with modified operations that place staff and client safety as a top priority.
Like many non-profit organizations, several fundraising events that benefit Pendleton Place have been canceled or postponed, leading to less revenue during a time when our needs, especially for food and shelter costs, are higher than ever.
The good news is that we haven't closed a single program and don't intend to. In fact, we are actively exploring ways that we can do even more for kids and youth in crisis.
How Can You Help?
- Make a direct donation to Pendleton Place via our website. Did you know that the CARES Act added a $300 universal deduction (above the line) for all taxpayers? If you make a cash contribution to Pendleton Place in 2020, you can deduct it from your federal income taxes up to $300! The IRS also lifted the cap on annual contributions for those who itemize (from 60% to 100% AGI)!
- Ask your employer if they will match your donation or consider sponsoring a Pendleton Place project. The CARES Act raised the annual cash gift limit for corporations from 10% to 25% of the corporation's taxable income.
- Purchase a needed item from our Amazon wish list. We also have larger, special needs for our clients. Contact us if you would like to learn more about "adopting" a homeless youth or a teen in foster care and helping us meet their needs.
- Like and follow us on social media and share our posts with your friends and neighbors who may be able to help.
Please contact us at
[email protected]
if you have any questions or would like to discuss making a donation.
