"Fairy tales are more than true — not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be defeated. " - Neil Gaiman Please note: After this week, we are moving to a monthly newsletter. Thank you for standing with us during this difficult time.

The Difference You've Made Since the arrival of COVID-19, we've worked tirelessly to move our clients to teletherapy, train child care providers across the Commonwealth, lead community trauma training, and rapidly fundraise. You have kept our doors open and helped us tackle seemingly impossible tasks. Here's a progress report of the incredible work you've helped us accomplish over the last two months:

Since converting to teletherapy at the end of March, we have provided more therapeutic sessions per week than the same time last year.

Our Child Development Services and Trauma & Resilience teams have provided more than 600 hours of training for child care providers and community leaders since March.

On May 5, ChildSavers received the largest number of donations in one day, ever. Thank you for helping us surpass our goal and raise $14,555 during Giving Tuesday Now. We were also blown away by not one, but two matching $10,000 gifts - bringing our total to $34,555. Thank you for this remarkable outpouring of generosity.

Resources Just For You Last week, we celebrated Virginia's first Resilience Week. We invite you to watch our three-part video series with Director of Mental Health and Lead Trauma & Resilience Educator, John Richardson-Lauve, LCSW: Attachment Regulation Competence Is your child experiencing big behaviors and feelings? Try this de-escalation technique. It can work with adults too! (3-minute read + 3-minute video) 4 ways to process lockdown with your kids (4-minute read + 10-minute video) Friday, May 8 was National Provider Appreciation Day! To thank our child care professionals for their hard work, we made a video to thank them (2-minute video) Communicating with your children through the art of play (7-minute CBS6 interview) Join us for our free Virtual Brown Bag Lunch Series for Parents (Tuesdays) and Educators (Thursdays).

Art for All Ages Art is extremely therapeutic for children and teens. Pick an art project or start doodling, and use the time to talk through feelings and emotions. Here are a few ideas: Process art you can eat: Edible finger paint for infants and toddlers Create vibrant necklaces with paper mache beads Make someone's day and send a paint scrape card - great for kids of all ages

Photo by persialou.com.

Donor Spotlight

Mrs. Esther Quarles "Having been a social worker, ChildSavers, formerly known as Memorial Guidance Clinic, has been a great resource for families for many years. Parents and guardians have always been pleased with the services received for their children. They felt the staff and clinicians were genuine, dedicated and showed concern for their and their children’s well being.  During my working years, I made many referrals to the then Memorial Guidance Clinic and now ChildSavers and I witnessed what families were saying when I was an intern there for a year. Everyone was so kind and always willing to help. My husband who worked there part time for 22 years spoke very favorably of ChildSavers and encouraged me to give my United Way donation to ChildSavers as he did. I began that donation in the 1970’s and have continued. The time, talents and love are a few of the benefits the children receive from the staff, but there are many more.  ChildSavers can not do everything alone, but with a little help from everyone, great strides will continue to be made." - Esther Quarles We could not be more grateful for you, Mrs. Quarles. Thank you for your long-standing support of our community's children and child care providers.

ChildSavers in The News CBS6: Communicating with your children through the art of play Rob Desir with CBS6: How Central Virginia children can get mental health help during COVID-19 Richmond Times Dispatch: Getting to Know Nell Nutaitis with ChildSavers WTVR: ChildSavers Crisis Hotline Available for Immediate Intervention Virginia Public Media: Tips to Helping Kids Adjust to "New Normal" of COVID-19 Pandemic Richmond Free Press: ChildSavers Offers 24-hour Immediate Response Hotline RVAHub: ChildSavers Transitions To Telehealth, Offering 24/7 Immediate Response Line for Families If you’d like to stay up to date with our ongoing response to COVID-19, refer to our website and tune in to Facebook for live updates and tips from our staff.

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