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The Champion
Campaign E-News
How We Are Meeting Goal
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February 2010 Vol 2, Issue II
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A letter from Mr. Chuck Clarke, Honorary Campaign Chair
Hello and welcome to our second E-news letter devoted to the Village's Champions for Children Bicentennial Campaign. The progress made since the last Campaign newsletter demonstrates how teamwork and your generous participation continues to bring us closer to achieving our three-year goal, despite a very rocky economy. For those of you who have not yet made an annual gift, we hope to persuade you to learn more about our campaign and how it benefits the children we serve. Each and every gift to the campaign is utilized for current programs and priorities and has an immediate and real impact on Hartford's most vulnerable kids.
When we launched the campaign back in July of 2008 we defined four areas designated by the Village Board of Directors as Campaign priorities. One of those priorities - known as Home Away From Home - supports the children in residence at the Village on our historic 1680 Albany Avenue campus. Home Away From Home is a renovation project that will transform the Brainard House which is where the Village's Safe Home program is located.
Children in Safe Home have been removed from their families due to abuse and/or neglect, and reside at the Village until they are emotionally stable and ready to transition to foster care or the care of a family member. They are typically aged 12 or younger and come to the Village with a variety of trauma-related conditions that are addressed by Safe Home's caring and dedicated staff. The environment in which this takes place is a critical component of therapeutic success, as children respond far more readily in a warm, home-like environment that surrounds them with a feeling of safety and security. The specific renovations to Brainard House will transform the kitchen/dining area into a family-style layout, will upgrade the recreational and study areas, and will provide an overall facelift to the building's interior. Photos and news on the project's progress are included in this newsletter.
The children who pass through Safe Home need Champions like you now more than ever. Many of them are facing significant obstacles and challenges, and they need the Village's strong and professional support to help them overcome those barriers. With the proper resources and treatment programs they are provided with hope and the opportunity to succeed. The Campaign is a chance to help change their lives, and together all of us must renew our enthusiasm for meeting head-on the many challenges facing Hartford children. We thank you for being a member of our Championship team, and for working with us to make this tomorrow's reality.
Chuck Clarke
Vice Chair, Travelers
Honorary Chair
Champions for Children Bicentennial Campaign
| Home Away From Home: Tracking the Upgrade Progress of Safe Home |
Located in Brainard House on the Village's Albany Avenue campus, Safe Home is a residential program for children who have been removed from their families for the first time due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. The Safe Home staff works with the child, family, and other community partners to develop a thoughtful permanency plan aimed at reducing the child's trauma and avoiding future placements.
As a priority of our Bicentennial Campaign, the Home Away From Home renovation project will upgrade Brainard House with an eye toward creating a warm, homelike environment, which has been proven to enhance therapeutic outcomes. Below are photos taken of the kitchen, upstairs hall and bedrooms during the first phase of the renovation project, and photos of the current mid-phase work.
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