Community Blog Archives by Date Blog
When you’ve always lived rather comfortably, when you have a strong support network of family, friends and/or a faith community, etc., resilience—bouncing back from tough times—isn’t too difficult.
How exchanging the definition of a vacation can bring relaxation, unity, and fun for a family.
A week of luxury at a beach resort, safari in Africa, cruising Disney through the Caribbean. The ultimate family vacations for the ultimate family, right? Sounds nice, however, the reality is the majority of us only go to those places in our dreams. We’re lucky to go to a local theme park or spend a weekend at the beach! The truth is vacations cost money and the bigger your family, the more the cost! Not only do you have to take off work but, travel, food, and lodging can get really expensive, really fast. If you are someone who finds yourself struggling with justifying taking your family on a trip because of the cost, maybe you need a new definition of a vacation.
Presenting the DAYCATION.
“I could never foster a teenager”. I’ve heard it time and time again during my twenty two years working in child welfare. Why are people so afraid of teen agers? We were ALL teenagers at one point…is that why you don’t think you can do it, because you’re afraid of a child like yourself? (insert funny photo?) I have met some of THE most amazing teens during my career. These kids are earning athletic and academic scholarships to college, they excel in their high school sports and community clubs…but they couldn’t do this without a caring foster parent by their side to support them every step of the way.
While some of you are busy planning your best and most epic April Fool’s Day pranks today, we wanted to take a minute to remind you that today is also the first day of the Pinwheels for Prevention Campaign celebrating Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Heartland for Children is a proud supporter of this national campaign and will be promoting it throughout the month. Please display your pinwheels, share our posts and participate in our events taking place throughout Polk, Hardee and Highlands County. We want everyone to know how they can be a part of the solution.
In the last ten[+] years, Heartland for Children has established strong community partnerships and effective programs that have positively impacted our tri-county area. Under their leadership, child abuse has decreased. This change has been a result of strong commitment to prevention and evidence based programs. Additionally, their focus on trauma focused care has made a tremendous impact on children and families that have experienced abuse, neglect, and out of home placements. Heartland for Children is the model of community based care for our state.
As a social worker who was involved in the transition to this model of care in our state, I fully support and endorse their continued work and leadership in Hardee, Highlands and Polk counties.
Mary Jo Plews - Former Executive Director, Healthy Start Coalition