OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
On behalf of CEF I want to thank our donors and continued supporters for another successful year. In 2018, with your help, we raised the bar for trauma recovery and healing centered initiatives for our youth and their families, and we expanded our reach in mental health and arts collaborative community spaces.
Your support has helped us to double-down on our commitments this year. In addition to our current youth and family programs in juvenile justice communities, we increased our capacity to serve homeless children and their parents, families temporarily sheltered, and populations in public housing communities. We are also actively increasing services that have shown the best outcomes, including long term sustainable mentorship programs with focused integrated arts. In the Spring of 2019, we provided scholarship assistance to 5 youth attending 4 year universities. Two youth recipients are in seeking degrees in performing and visual arts.
Another huge success in 2019, is In Defense of Girlhood! These are workshops held for girls ages 5-11yrs, living in public housing communities or shelters. Each session cultivates positive childhood experiences through doll play and healthy peer engagement. In Defense of Girlhood workshops are also meant to challenge adultification bias towards girls of color, amongst educators, public and private agencies, and family systems.
I want to thank our CEF supporters, mentors, assistants and teaching artists who have taken on difficult projects, and advocated for youth participants side-by-side with caregivers. Your dedication and compassion to aid the marginalized populations we serve is at the core of our success.
We will continue to commit to our services in underserved communities, and we will always teach our participants to pay forward as our Founder has done with her life. I am positive that her spirit of contribution and gratitude guides our leadership. I am so proud to share my mother's legacy so deeply and enthusiastically.
Thank you.
-Renee
