“Play is the exultation of the possible.” — Martin Buber, Philosopher
All children who come to CRH are suffering. While some arrive with visible wounds, all come with invisible ones: abuse, neglect and trauma. With those major life issues to deal with, some may ask what good is something as seemingly minor as a baseball game, art project or trip to the park. According to CRH Recreational Supervisor Gabe Menendez, these everyday activities are key to helping our CRH kids heal.
“What’s for dinner?” That good-natured phrase rings around homes in our community – and everywhere—each evening.
But for some kids, it’s a loaded question: Dinner for all too many is only a snack they were able to squirrel home from school, what they can hoard away to stave off starvation, or – for some – absolutely nothing at all.
Enter the CRH office of David Goldstein, and you’ll always hear music playing. It’s not just any music; it’s the Grateful Dead: the eclectic 1960s band known for its warm worldview and welcoming fan culture.
But the Dead is more than music to David’s ears – the band’s inclusive vision reflects a big-picture philosophy that has informed David’s decades of service to children, including his 39 years as Lead Social Worker at the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento.
On World Gratitude Day and every day, we are so grateful for the wonderful support of our generous community. Check out some quotes from recent donors, and share your own story about why supporting CRH kids is important to you.
“CRH helped us as children; thanks so much for the opportunity for us to give back.”
“I used your web site to turn a bunch of my tangled old jewelry into treasure for the kids!”
‘Supporting Community Connections’ offers outreach for foster, homeless and LGBTQ youth communities
National Suicide Prevention Week is this week — September 10 – 16, 2017 — but the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento (CRH) focuses on suicide prevention all year long with its innovative Supporting Community Connections Program (SCC).
Despite our ongoing outreach and clarification efforts, media reports continue to provide misleading information and imagery regarding the Children’s Receiving Home (CRH) and its relationship to Sacramento County’s Centralized Placement Support Unit (CPSU) that leases space on our property. In light of these misinforming reports, I wish to share some key reminders with you:
Unique program empowers traumatized children, prepares them for success in school and life
It’s back-to-school season, and children all over the Sacramento region are gearing up for the year ahead – just like the children participating in the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento’s Sprouts Trauma-Informed Care Preschool.
Phil Featherston has been helping kids since he was just a kid himself.
“When I was 12 years old, I started volunteering in my school’s special-education classes,” he said. “In junior high, I worked with kids with developmental delays. I’ve worked with children with autism and in a military home assisting children with behavior management and PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. In all, I’ve been working with kids for 17 years – but I’m just a giant kid at heart!”
We read bedtime stories, had snuggle time, and sang “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” We made time to play together, eat together, and go on nature walks. Our daughter, Danielle, laughed and loved and could light up a room with her vibrant personality.
Recent media reports have provided some misleading information regarding the Children’s Receiving Home (CRH) and its relationship to Sacramento County’s Centralized Placement Support Unit (CPSU) located on our campus. I would like to take this opportunity to clear up any confusion this may have caused.
It should come as no surprise that the work we do here at the Children’s Receiving Home is tough. The kids we serve come from incredibly difficult situations, and have some very high barriers put in their way. The deck is stacked against these kids and we work very hard to change their stories.
This is why we are so excited to have great cause for celebration this month. CRH is very proud to announce we have three youth graduating, not only from high school, but also from our Independent Living Program (ILP).
Greg was 11 years old when he first came to the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento (CRH).
His stepfather was violent and cruel in his “discipline” of Greg.
“He didn’t believe in using a belt. He felt like it took him putting his hands on me to make me a man. I remember the first time…he just started punching me in my face.”
This happened on a daily basis, but Greg remembers one day specifically. It was the day he was brought to CRH.
The news of his death broke that morning. Just a year earlier Jim had been living in the Children’s Receiving Home’s Independent Living Program; now a victim of senseless violence, he left behind a baby boy without a father. Within a few hours a group of young women and men who knew Jim were coming together in the Receiving Home’s lobby.
“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:”
If you’re interested in poetry, you might recognize this as the first stanza of Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “If—“.
What do you do when you observe a child misbehaving at the grocery store or park? What if they’re not just “acting out,” but putting other kids in danger? Do you look disapprovingly at the parents and wonder what they’re doing wrong? Do you look at the child and think, “I’m glad that’s not my kid,” or, “My kid would never do that.”
