Dear Friend,
Imagine...
- Being unable to help your child get dressed in the morning because your hands are too painfully swollen with arthritis
- Being paralyzed in a car accident and having no family to care for you
- Having to choose between paying your rent and filling the prescription for your heart condition...
Unfortunately, such terrible situations happen. Most don't make the headlines and are the type of everyday challenges that can so easily go unnoticed by others. But they are all very real examples of pain, anxiety and suffering.
What's different about these particular stories is that they are also heartwarming examples of hope. In each of the above situations, the individuals reached out to Children's Aid and Family Services and received vital help to manage their situations and get their lives back on track. This help and hope for the future were made possible thanks to the support of people like you.
Today, I am asking you to help us turn many more such examples of human suffering into stories of hope, by making a gift to our Summer Appeal. I ask you to be as generous as you can!
Please take a moment to read more about the stories I touched on above and you will see for yourself the very tangible difference the services of Children's Aid and Family Services have made in the lives of Anna, Eva, and Gillian.
I'd like to share with you more details of one of these featured stories. Gillian, just 19, had lived in one of the agency's group homes for several years, having been removed from her childhood home after facing unimaginable abuse and neglect. She had overcome huge challenges, had left foster care to start college, and had her whole life mapped out ahead of her. A devastating car crash changed this overnight. All alone in the hospital with no one to turn to, Gillian reached out for support from her mom who had always failed her in the past.
Unfortunately, she still could not count on her mom's help. Rather, Gillian's mom demanded attention and emotional assistance that Gillian simply wasn't able to give.
Fortunately, Gillian had developed a relationship with her mentor, Mary, who had been matched with her by the agency a few years earlier. Mary was the strong, reliable adult role model Gillian so desperately needed. Not only was Mary able to step in and help on a personal level, she also reached back to the agency and ensured that other assistance was available - a support network of familiar, caring professionals, and, just as important, emergency funding from the Thomas R.S. Burgin Parents Fund, to help pay some of the mounting debts Gillian faced. While Gillian had to put her dreams on hold and spent many months in a physical rehabilitation center, she has since moved to an assisted living program for disabled adults. You will be pleased to hear that Gillian has made slow but sure progress. She continues to reach out to her agency "family," is in good spirits, and plans to resume college in the coming months!
For more than 100 years, Children's Aid and Family Services has been here for people of all ages who have faced difficult situations. Whether we are supporting the tiniest of infants born to a substance-abusing mom, a child or teenager seeking a loving foster or adoptive family to call their own, a low-income couple struggling to bring up their children, an uninsured adult who needs counseling, or a frail senior or his caregiver, we are here to help. But we can only do so with your support. Your donations help us recruit families for children, provide child care subsidies, offer sign language interpretation for deaf seniors, fund college expenses and other emergency support for young adults leaving foster care, and build hope in so many different ways. Your gift makes a real and lasting difference.
I ask you to be as generous as you can to help us help others. The vulnerable infants, children, young adults, seniors, and their families in our shared communities who rely on Children's Aid and Family Services are counting on you and greatly appreciate your support and generosity!
Sincerely,
Robert B. Jones, Ph.D.
President & CEO
P.S. Please give as generously as you can. With your support, we can help many more children and adults like Gillian, Eva, and Anna. Don't forget, you can give a gift online at www.cafsnj.org, where you can also read more about our services, volunteer opportunities, and other ways to get involved! |
