Safe Families For Children In Need
UPDATE, May 29: Since this story aired, more than 500 families have signed up to take in other kids through the Safe Families program.
If someone asked you how the recession has affected you, you'd probably have an answer or two. Perhaps you or someone you know has lost a job, or your 401(k) has taken a hit.
But what about your children? When CBS News asked parents about that, more than one out of three told us the recession had affected their children's lives in some way. Sixty percent said they've had to tell their kids there's no money for something they're used to getting.
For some children, the impact goes far deeper, and may be to them what the Great Depression was to an earlier generation, reports CBS News anchor Katie Couric.
These are the young voices of the recession.
"We didn't have anywhere to live. And we wouldn't take a shower or anything like that," said Lawrie, 10. "We would just be wandering around."
Lawrie, and her 5-year-old sister, Isabel, spent nearly four months living on the streets of Chicago, riding on trains after their parents - a college professor and an accountant - lost their jobs and their home and struggled with health problems.
"This is when we - mom, Isabel and I - were sitting in the metro Union Station," Lawrie says, showing a picture she drew. "And then a policewoman came by and saw Isabel's swollen feet, that were covered with spots and bleeding, which she got from walking around too much. And her shoes were too tight."
With parents no longer able to take care of them, they could have wound up in the child welfare system. But in Chicago and seven other cities, there's another safety net, an alternative to foster care, for some. It's called Safe Families, a network of volunteers who will take in children from overwhelmed parents, temporarily - anywhere from a few days to more than a year.
"There's a whole group of families that if you help them before things get really bad, you can really make a difference in their life," said Dr. David Anderson, who came up with the idea five years ago. Anderson says Safe Families for Children has helped more than a 1,000 children in Chicago during that time.
"A couple of moms said, 'You know, can you just take 'em from me, until I can get back on my feet?'" Anderson recalled.
In the last year, requests have doubled. Nine months ago, Cassie and Toby Eng opened their home to Lawrie and Isabel.
"You get attached so fast, and you want the best for them. At the same time, you hope and pray that their original family can be reconciled or that their original family can come back together," Cassie Eng said.
Some child advocates criticize the program and say more should be done to keep families intact.
But Shanell Bryant believed it was the best option.
"That's the one thing I strive to be - is a good mom," she said, wiping away tears.
Bryant, 28, was about to put 5-year-old Jessica and 2-year-old Ethan up for adoption after she was diagnosed with cancer, lost her job and then her apartment.
"I felt as though I didn't even deserve to live, because I was unable to take care of my kids," she said.
That's when she was referred to the Safe Families program. But the thought of giving up her children was agonizing.
"I cried all last night, honestly I did," Bryant said.
CBS News was there when her children were welcomed into the Applegate home.
The families of children Trevan, Malik, and Hector all made that same difficult choice.
"All of a sudden my mom was crying. And she said that she had found a family for me," Trevan said. "It was really hard trying to say goodbye to my mom."
It is a little bit confusing to live with a new family and not with their own moms, the children said, but they understand it can be for the best.
"I do. Because they help me out a lot. And it's helping my mom too. It's not just helping me, it's helping her too," Malik said.
Volunteer families stepping in during tough times is reminiscent of the Great Depression, when parents in dire straits sent their children to live with relatives or other people in the community. Charlene Davis was four years old when she became one of those "economic" orphans.
"It's a wonderful thing to have somebody who takes you into their home, hug you, tell them that they love you," she said.
The Applegates did that for Jessica and Ethan, leaving their mom free to look for work And Safe Families helped with her job search as well. After two weeks - success.
"I got the job. I got the job!" Bryant said. "So that's a good thing."
It's a part-time job counseling women at a shelter. But it's enough work to enable her to get her kids back.
"They saved my life," Bryant said. "They were angels sent to me out of nowhere."
Find Out More
Organizations where you can offer help if you're able, or receive help if you need it:
Safe Families for Children
Children's Health Fund
Child Welfare League of America
National Network for Young People in Foster Care
Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved. If someone asked you how the recession has affected you, you'd probably have an answer or two. Perhaps you or someone you know has lost a job, or your 401(k) has taken a hit.
But what about your children? When CBS News asked parents about that, more than one out of three told us the recession had affected their children's lives in some way. Sixty percent said they've had to tell their kids there's no money for something they're used to getting.
For some children, the impact goes far deeper, and may be to them what the Great Depression was to an earlier generation, reports CBS News anchor Katie Couric.
These are the young voices of the recession.
"We didn't have anywhere to live. And we wouldn't take a shower or anything like that," said Lawrie, 10. "We would just be wandering around."
Lawrie, and her 5-year-old sister, Isabel, spent nearly four months living on the streets of Chicago, riding on trains after their parents - a college professor and an accountant - lost their jobs and their home and struggled with health problems.
"This is when we - mom, Isabel and I - were sitting in the metro Union Station," Lawrie says, showing a picture she drew. "And then a policewoman came by and saw Isabel's swollen feet, that were covered with spots and bleeding, which she got from walking around too much. And her shoes were too tight."
With parents no longer able to take care of them, they could have wound up in the child welfare system. But in Chicago and seven other cities, there's another safety net, an alternative to foster care, for some. It's called Safe Families, a network of volunteers who will take in children from overwhelmed parents, temporarily - anywhere from a few days to more than a year.
"There's a whole group of families that if you help them before things get really bad, you can really make a difference in their life," said Dr. David Anderson, who came up with the idea five years ago. Anderson says Safe Families for Children has helped more than a 1,000 children in Chicago during that time.
"A couple of moms said, 'You know, can you just take 'em from me, until I can get back on my feet?'" Anderson recalled.
In the last year, requests have doubled. Nine months ago, Cassie and Toby Eng opened their home to Lawrie and Isabel.
"You get attached so fast, and you want the best for them. At the same time, you hope and pray that their original family can be reconciled or that their original family can come back together," Cassie Eng said.
Some child advocates criticize the program and say more should be done to keep families intact.
But Shanell Bryant believed it was the best option.
"That's the one thing I strive to be - is a good mom," she said, wiping away tears.
Bryant, 28, was about to put 5-year-old Jessica and 2-year-old Ethan up for adoption after she was diagnosed with cancer, lost her job and then her apartment.
"I felt as though I didn't even deserve to live, because I was unable to take care of my kids," she said.
That's when she was referred to the Safe Families program. But the thought of giving up her children was agonizing.
"I cried all last night, honestly I did," Bryant said.
CBS News was there when her children were welcomed into the Applegate home.
"Everybody says, 'This is so good of you to do,' and in a way, I feel selfish because I get so much more out of it," said Safe Families mother Sheila Applegate.
The families of children Trevan, Malik, and Hector all made that same difficult choice.
"All of a sudden my mom was crying. And she said that she had found a family for me," Trevan said. "It was really hard trying to say goodbye to my mom."
It is a little bit confusing to live with a new family and not with their own moms, the children said, but they understand it can be for the best.
"I do. Because they help me out a lot. And it's helping my mom too. It's not just helping me, it's helping her too," Malik said.
Volunteer families stepping in during tough times is reminiscent of the Great Depression, when parents in dire straits sent their children to live with relatives or other people in the community. Charlene Davis was four years old when she became one of those "economic" orphans.
"It's a wonderful thing to have somebody who takes you into their home, hug you, tell them that they love you," she said.
The Applegates did that for Jessica and Ethan, leaving their mom free to look for work And Safe Families helped with her job search as well. After two weeks - success.
"I got the job. I got the job!" Bryant said. "So that's a good thing."
It's a part-time job counseling women at a shelter. But it's enough work to enable her to get her kids back.
"They saved my life," Bryant said. "They were angels sent to me out of nowhere."
Find Out More
Organizations where you can offer help if you're able, or receive help if you need it:
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Posted by debinok1
Exactly. Excluding people who don't "share" the faith and punishing poor children in the bargain.
It's what Christ would do.
Yes, she actually wrote it. Yes someone actually posted such bright post on this blog. I rest my case with the feeling that there is a very little hope for this country.
I
people on the blogs fight the - as they see it - rising power of government.
but a country with no or failing social systems, is exactly the definition for third worldstatus. 19. century.
you have the obscene rich and their houses behind guarded fences and then you have little children walking the streets because their parents lost job and with that too often the home.
and that is exactly the definition of third world.
and above all that there are the bigots who fight big government. the american society is deeply sick and selfrighteous..
I am glad I am living in what you will call socialist europe. we have problems here as well but I don?t know what is worse. The situation out of the article or your bigotic good doers, full of bible verses.
a lot of you think america is an ethical example for the world and if the whole world would be like america, everything would be fine. that only shows that you are at least partly blind.
trickling down has made the few filthy rich and the many so poor.
nothing to be proud about.
third world in many, too many aspects.
So unless you have a better idea I suggest you sit down and be quiet.
Posted by marlaluvstyler at 9:24 PM : May 18, 2009
This is an excellent post. It is well worth reading the entire post, but I only clipped the very end. Go re-read it in its entirety.
Thank you, marlaluvstyler, for writing. More people need to understand what you have been through so that others do not have to go through it. May you be blessed in your endeavors to make life better for others.
And sometimes, people are too broke to take care of their children, or they are too overwhelmed, or they have an abusive spouse, or they can't feed them, or they are too sick. Sometimes it is best to let the children go to someone who can take care of them better. I luckily did find a family who took me in and helped me.
This is an excellent idea, because it isn't fostercare. The people who take these children are commited to giving them back to their parents once they get on their feet. In the state that I live in, if your child ends up in foster care because you can't take care of them (which they will eventually if it becomes apparent that you have no place to live and no way to take care of them), if you still can't take care of them after a year, they start the process of taking your child away permentley and legally and putting them up for adoption. Case closed, end of story, you lose.
So you people who are calling this cruelty and hypocrisy, you obviosuly have NO CLUE! I wholly support this program and I plan to contact them and see what I can do to help. Some of you would rather see these liitle children live in poverty and go hungry in order to keep a family living together than ease a parents burden and give a child a safe place to live while their parents get it together. Obviously you have never been in a situation such as this. I have and I can tell you right now that this is a wonderful program.
And those of you who have decided that this is a sad hyprocritical program that is scarring children, try living on the streets and going hungry. Try living in a dirty rat infested hotel room on skid row like I did as a kid. Try having holes in your shoes, and nothing to eat. Try that.
So unless you have a better idea I suggest you sit down and be quiet.
Repunli'con'S only know sperm loads in need.
ONCE THERE IS A BIRTH, THEY DO NOT BELIEVE
ANY HUMANS ARE INVOLVED
Posted by gravyboat45 at 7:47 PM
****************
That's why I got rid of AT&T. Talking to an operator all the way in India smacked completely of being impersonal and uncaring about the American client. As far as I am concerned all such companies can pack it up and move to India and continue with only Indian clients.
Posted by vielmann
I agree. You know the scene in Transformers, when the military unit is trying to call the Pentagon, and this snotty Indian guy is pickin his nose, trying to sell this special forces guy crap? That scene pizzes me off, because I'm sure THAT'S the same guy who works for DELL. lmao