Community Placement Highlight: Thompson Child & Family Focus Services

By: Hayden Pigott and Lauren Cohen

All Active Junior League of Charlotte, Inc. (JLC) members commit to 40 hours of service and serve on a committee or in a leadership role to complete that commitment. These committees range from internal placements-supporting things like JLC communications and financial operations-to external placements-serving with our community partners. Read ahead to learn about one of the committees doing incredible work for the Charlotte community, specifically in the focus area of school readiness.

What is Thompson Child & Family Focus Services?

Thompson Child & Family Focus Services (Thompson) and its companion service, Friends of the ChildrenCharlotte is the leading provider of clinical and prevention services for children and families across the Carolinas. The agency strives to change the lives of atrisk children and families through therapy-based care. They have four locations specializing in clinical and behavioral treatment, developmental education and proactive care. Their mission is to impact generational change by empowering children and communities through healing, teaching, worship and play. The organization selects children who, by the ages of four and five, have experienced compounding childhood adversities and trauma like intergenerational poverty, neglect and abuse, parental substance abuse, mental health challenges, hunger and homelessness.

What the JLC Thompson Child and Family Focus Committee Does:

In alignment with the JLC’s school readiness focus area — partnering with the community to ensure all children are school-ready by focusing on health and educational needs of children from birth to fifth grade in priority areas of Mecklenburg County — the committee of 12 Active JLC members is focused on supporting afterschool programming with activities that align with their themes. Committee members serve as reading buddies, collect and package DIY kits, plan holiday events for children and more. They come together monthly to create joy for the children and families involved with Thompson’s services. In addition, members focus on mentoring, relationship building, time management, project development and creative thinking.

In August, the committee assembled 60 backpacks with school supplies and festive, handwritten cards to help the kids start their school year on the right foot. In October, they decorated the center in person and put together Halloween bags with supplies for each child to decorate or make their own pumpkin. In November, the committee hosted a Friendsgiving for the children and their families with a full meal and a food drive.

It has been incredibly fulfilling to be involved with Friends of the Children-Charlotte (within Thompson Child and Family Focus) and work towards their mission. I love that the program is committed to the children and truly there for them — each participant has a salaried, professional mentor and friend for 12.5 years. “It is gratifying that our committee is a part of thoughtful and consistent support for these children.” —

Lauren Cohen, Vice-Chair for the Thompson Child and Family Focus Committee.