www.ChildRN.org
Fall 2015
A Helping Hand
To Friends and Contributors: A Report on Progress and Plans
Restoring Life’s Possibilities to Metro Atlanta’s Homeless Children and Mothers Since 1993
& Adopt-A-Shelter
By Jim Cox
WOW! Fall is here and so it’s time to start thinking about the Holiday Season. Where
does the time go? Santa’s elves are working double time, and Mrs. Claus is Googling
the route for Santa to take. This year we will be providing gifts for around 2,700
children living in shelters and group homes in 20 Metro-Atlanta counties.
WE’RE GOING TO NEED YOUR HELP!
CRN receives the “wish lists” of all these children, and the Adopt-A-Shelter and 12
Days of Caring programs work in tandem to make their dreams come true. With the
Adopt a Shelter program CRN matches a business, school, club, family, neighborhood,
etc. with a shelter or group home that houses the number of children they feel
comfortable “adopting”. Some of these homes have as few as five children others
over 100, so we have a home that matches the budget of most groups.
Continued on page 3
Thanksgiving Food Drive
By Cliff Kinsey
Please help us make sure that homeless children in Metro Atlanta get to enjoy a bountiful
Thanksgiving feast on Thanksgiving. Our biggest need is gift cards that can be used to buy
Turkeys and perishable food items like milk, eggs, etc. as we have limited cold storage
space.
HOW YOU CAN HELP – Please consider conducting a food drive at your office, church, neighborhood, school,
social or civic club. We can bring you boxes, signs, fliers, and everything needed to make the collection easy on
you. Help sort food that we collection on November 20th, 21st, and 22nd. This is a great volunteer opportunity for
entire families and groups to come out and spend a day volunteering together.
Do you have a truck, SUV, or large car please consider helping up pick up food from the various collection drives
that are happening. Also we will need people to help deliver food to various shelters and group homes that are unable to pick up their food.
To get involved with hosting a food drive please email Cliff Kinsey [email protected] or call 770-649-7117.
Career Preparation Workshops, Changing Women’s Lives
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By Gabrielle Persaud
Although Children’s Restoration Network’s aims to ensure that every
child experiences the childhood that they deserve, CRN also believes
that a key factor to helping these children is helping their mothers
become independent. Many of the participants were once stay-at-home
moms that fled domestic violence, were laid off, or became sick, which
led them to seeking refuge in a homeless shelter. The mothers that
participate in L.E.A.P. workshops have an intense desire to provide for
their families-they just need the resources to do so.
Leadership Employment Achievement Prosperity Workshops aim to do
just that by providing invaluable resources such as resume writing
assistance, interview preparation, and one-on-one attention from an
experienced Human Resources professional in an encouraging
environment. Over the past year, CRN has received such wonderful
support from volunteers that we have also been able to expand these
resources to very deserving youth aged 18-21 that have fled domestic
violence, sexual abuse, pressure to abuse substances including alcohol
and drugs, or were rejected by their loved ones due to their sexual
orientation.
As we continue to expand to provide career preparation services to
even more mothers and teens living in local homeless shelters, we are
in need of even more volunteers. If you or someone you know are
interested in assisting with resume preparation and interview skills on a
Saturday morning workshop, please send your resume to Gabrielle
Persaud at [email protected].
We are also in need of childcare volunteers that are at least 18 years
old and willing to submit to a background check as these volunteers are
instrumental in allowing mothers the opportunity to focus on
themselves during the workshop. If you are also interested in
volunteering with childcare, please email Gabrielle.
Really Special People:
Diane Borchers, Judy Bower, Cathy Bramlett, Kathy Brantley, Alan Brown, Jake Bryant, Tom Burke,
Fayelene Cherrier, Melissa Clayton, Sally Cottrell, Christy Davis, John DeShazer, Maggie DeCan, Jocelyn Dorsey, Valarie Dunn, Sybil Elie, Tony Emanuel, Jaime Escamilla, Robert Feldman, Lori Foley,
Janelle Gardner, Mike Gilligan, Kimberly Giordano, Erin Grizzle, George Houghtaling, Kendra Hubbard, Glynn Jenkins, George Juzdan, Fran Killeen, Regina LeBlanc, Mary Lewis, Mike Luckovich, Lynn
Manning, Joan McCall, Lauren McGee, Charlie McKinney, Thierry Murad, Rebecca Odom, Margie and
Steve Osheroff, the Ott Girls, Peter Pawlenko, Shelia Perkins, Cathe Reams, Amber Seale, Tina Sorrels, Xuan Trinh, Marc Van Kley, Alan Varghese, Tim Vojta, Wyvonnee Wintlend, Kevin Yates, and
Michael Zagryn
Project One on One
Volunteers Needed!
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by Gabrielle Persaud
Starting a new school year in a brand new school with no friends can be very intimidating for even the most confident
children. The children of Project One on One know these emotions all too well, as the average homeless child changes
schools at least 2 times per year. The struggle truly begins when these children return to their respective homeless
shelter or group home and attempt to master their homework alone. Many factors including changing schools, lack of
assistance outside of the classroom, learning disabilities, and low self-esteem result in 25% of homeless children not
graduating high school.
Project One on One’s academic mentors provide unparalleled support to these children in the form of guidance, encouragement, praise, and love. After working with
our academic mentors for just 1 semester, children not only have improved grades,
but also improved behavior, attendance rates, and most importantly, a caring adult
that is actively speaking life into their future goals and dreams.
As of fall 2015, CRN has expanded its Project One on One services to a local domestic
violence shelter that houses an average of 150 children per semester; in other words,
we need your help! Academic mentors of Project One on One need but few requirements including the ability to pass a background check, an hour and a half a week over 1 semester, If you would like to
learn more about Project One on One and how to get involved, e-mail Gabrielle Persaud at [email protected] or call 770-649-7117.
12 Days of Caring & Adopt a Shelter continued
To fully adopt a group home we ask that each child receives a minimum of $100 worth of gifts. If you are interested in the Adopt a Shelter program call Cliff at 770 649-7117 or email [email protected].
The 12 Days of Caring is a general toy and gift drive for kids that do not
get “adopted”. Again, various groups, businesses, clubs and individuals
will donate toys, gifts, and clothing. A list of needs and favorite gifts
can be found on our website, www.childrn.org. The gifts can then be
dropped off at at our office in Roswell or we can pick them up. Older
kids really appreciate clothing or gift cards from Target, Old Navy, WalMart, etc. At the end of the collection the gifts are brought to 5000A Commerece Pkwy. in Roswell, and the Wrap Party begins. This year it will be December 18th through the 21st. Gifts that have been collected can also be dropped off at
the Party. The gifts that are collected are divided according to gender, age, and value. We then pass out the kid’s
“Wish Lists” from the various shelters and group homes. Although not always a perfect match, volunteers try to get as
close as possible to what the kid’s want. When all the kids from a certain home are done we bag them up, and volunteers deliver them to the home before Christmas. Most can have parties with the kids if they want; some very elaborate, with Santa, games, and refreshments, others just soft drinks and pizza or hot wings.
If you and your family really want to enjoy the true Spirit of Christmas please consider setting aside a portion of your
Holiday giving for a homeless child. Consider buying some gifts and/or having a party for kids in a group home. I will
always remember a note I received after last Christmas. A family with two preteen kids had decided, instead of buying
gifts for each other they would “adopt” a group home with 6 kids. They delivered the gifts and had a party with the
kids and had a great time. On the way home one of the kids said, “You know, we sure are lucky to be us”. The mother,
who wrote the note, said she laughed and cried all the way home. She declared, “It was the best Christmas our family
had ever had”.
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Back 2 School 2015—Best Ever
by Cliff Kinsey
6,000 homeless children will begin school with a new and filled book bag thanks to the
army of people that took the time to donate a new book bag and school supplies. This
campaign would have not been our biggest ever without the support of WSB TV Channel
2, Kroger, UPS and Northside hospital which served as the anchors for this collection. This
years “Stuff the Bus” was a one day event where we filled 6 school buses with new book
bags and school supplies. Each “Stuff the Bus” location was manned by a WSB TV channel
2 “on air personality”. It was the first time in our history that we have had the second
highest trending hashtag in metro-Atlanta; #StuffTheBus. Hats off to Jocelyn Dorsey with
WSB TV Channel 2 for organizing such a high profile community wide event that blanketed the city during the “Stuff
the Bus” promotion. At the end of the day the real heroes are all of the individuals that took the time to go out and
buy school supplies and book bags and make sure they were deposited in one of our many collections boxes that
were scattered throughout metro-Atlanta. If ever there was a campaign embraced by the wonderful and compassionate people of metro-Atlanta it was our Back 2 School campaign this year.
Just before school began we invited all 2,700 children homeless children living in homeless shelters and group
homes throughout 21 metro-Atlanta counties to come out and attend a Day of Back 2 School Readiness. All of the
children received Health Screenings, hearing and vision test, and overall wellness checks from Georgia State Universities School of Nursing. We had barbers and beauticians volunteer to give any child that needed one a free haircut
and style. We had 3 bouncy houses, face painting, bead making, an indoor basketball court with 6 goals and a DJ
that played all of the audience participation tunes that really put
the fun in the event. We also served a buffet fit for a king that consisted of BBQ chicken breast, hot dogs, hamburgers, macaroni and
cheese, a smorgasbord of chips and snacks, cheesecakes and chocolate cakes and cookies. The highlight of the day was of course the
children receiving a new and filled book bag. It was like Christmas
watching the kids excitedly unzipping their book bags and checking
out the haul of supplies in it. For the children that were not able to
attend the event they sent staff to pick up book bags for their children or we had volunteers deliver them directly to the group
homes or shelters. The campaign was so successful that any child
entering a shelter or group home during the 2015/2016 school
year will be provided a new and filled book bag that needs one
______________________________________________________________________________________________
On September 23rd CRN began its 23rd year of:
“Restoring life’s possibilities to metro Atlanta’s homeless children and mothers since 1993”
CRN has touched the lives of over 60,000 homeless children and 15,000 homeless mothers. We could not have
done this without your financial support and your time.
Sincere thanks to all who made this possible!
5
A New Hope: The Force Awakens (Not A Star Wars Review)
by Ben Minor
Working at Children's Restoration Network provides for many inspirational moments, but hands down, my favorite thing about working at CRN is getting to go out and interview the amazing young men and women who
apply for our New Hope Scholarship. For many people, going to college or technical school is just another
thing that has to be done in order to start a career and get ahead in life. But for the kids we work with, a college
education provides them with an opportunity to build a brighter future, and each
one has their own set of dreams that drive them.
Some scholarship applicants talk of plans to become teachers, health professionals,
and scientists. Others talk of wanting to start their own business or start a career in
the social service or nonprofit sector so that they can help other kids escape a life
of homelessness and deal with some of the pain and trauma they've experienced.
Some simply talk of goals beyond school and work: having their own place for the
first time in their lives; getting married; starting a family.
Gino, Master Degree
All of this is only made more powerful because of where these young men and
women have come from to reach this point: transcending moments of hunger,
abuse, desperation, even contemplation of suicide and coming out on the other side
knowing that their lives and the lives of those close to them will be better.
Gino
This year, Children's Restoration Network has awarded a record-high 17 New Hope Scholarships to help these
young men and women get the necessary education and training to help them achieve their career and life
goals. And in the face of rising college costs, CRN has also increased our baseline scholarship from $3,000 to
$4,000 to better help them avoid having to take on crippling student debt.
Thanks to your support, the future will be brighter for these young men and women. Just ask some of our New
Hope Graduates like Gino who is now producing his own TV show, or Coco
who is working in Dubai and jet setting around the globe, or Jennifer, our newest
New Hope Graduate who finished her Bachelors Degree in May and got married
in August.
If you would like more information on how you
can help the next generation of New Hope Scholarship recipients take that first crucial step into
adulthood, please contact Cliff Kinsey at
[email protected] or call our office at
770-649-7117.
Coco
Jennifer
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Celebrate the Children Gala
by Melissa Kinsey
The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead was the place to be on July 26, 2015, for Children's Restoration Network's annual
"Celebrate the Children" Gala! This is our biggest and most elegant fundraiser every year and this year was no
exception. Over 450 people, including corporate sponsors, leaders of the community, volunteers and other
guests, came together to support CRN's HeadSmart educational programs. The black-tie optional event featured
gourmet cuisine and a bottomless glass of wine with dinner, live and silent auction, and ended with dancing late
into the night. Ms. Jocelyn Dorsey, from WSB-TV, served as the Mistress of Ceremonies where she kept the evening flowing and the fun going. The highlight and inspiration of the evening was hearing from two of CRN's New
Hope Scholarship recipients, and learning how the opportunity for them to continue their education beyond high
school has positively impacted their lives. Everyone left the evening knowing that they made a difference, and
had a great time doing it!
Don’t miss out on next years “Celebrate the Children” Gala
Save the Date, July 23rd at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead
For volunteer email alerts, please send your email address to [email protected]
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PERMIT 276
ROSWELL, GA 30076
11285 Elkins Road
Suite C-4
Roswell, GA 30076
Or Current Resident
Restoring Life’s Possibilities to Metro Atlanta’s Homeless Children and Mothers Since 1993