Youth Villages | GA Newsletter | Spring 2023

FROM YOUTH VILLAGES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

We are excited that spring has arrived, and we are witnessing so much growth on our campus. As we transition into warmer months here in Georgia, our programs come alive, and the Inner Harbour campus reminds us of the new life the springtime brings each year.

In this newsletter, you will learn about the upcoming improvements to our Inner Harbour campus. This exciting opportunity allows us to make some much needed upgrades to our facilities and create space for us to serve more children in need.

You will learn about our expanded community engagement to connect more consistently with our community partners. We’ll share a fantastic example of the impact our friends from The Home Depot have on our campus through their volunteer service. You will learn about the expansion of our West African Drumming program and how you can support the upcoming Summer of African Dance, which will bring a joyful and expressive experience to the youth in our care.

We appreciate the contributions you make to help support our programs which are changing lives daily. In the work we do to help children and families live successfully, we see seeds planted and marvel at the growth that the young people in our programs experience. Every day there is the possibility for something new to emerge, and we are honored to be a part of this transformative work.

GEORGIA ADVISORY BOARD

Paul Zachos, Board Chair

Amy Baillie

Edwin Cook

Don Crampton

Robb Dillon

Bruce Hein

Brian Holloway

Dara Mann

Adrienne Mittons

Robert L. Rearden

Matthew Tarkenton

Youth Villages is a national leader in children’s mental and behavioral health, committed to building strong families, delivering effective services and significantly improving outcomes for children, families and young people involved in child welfare and juvenile justice systems across the country. Founded in 1986, the organization’s 3,600 employees help more than 36,000 children annually in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Youth Villages has been recognized by the Harvard Business School and U.S. News & World Report and was identified by The White House as one of the nation’s most promising results-oriented nonprofit organizations.

How are we doing?

We’d love to hear feedback from you, so we can continue to improve and give you content you enjoy.

Tanya Anderson EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GEORGIA

tanya.anderson@youthvillages.org

770-852-6238

Use

THE HOME DEPOT DAY OF SERVICE MAKES AN IMPACT

THROUGH SHARED EXPERIENCES, WE OFFER COMMUNITY PARTNERS AN EXPANDED WAY TO CONNECT WITH YOUTH VILLAGES

At Youth Villages Georgia, we are aware that it takes a village to accomplish our mission of helping children and families live successfully. Our community partners help us in several ways to carry out that mission, and we are grateful to be in collaboration to support the youth in our care.

A fantastic example of community engagement is how our friends from The Home Depot gave back to our Inner Harbour campus. Last December, volunteers from The Home Depot held their TEAM DEPOT event with us. After several months of coordination and thoughtful planning, we welcomed

more than 100 volunteers to our Inner Harbour campus to complete much needed renovation and restoration projects to beautify our campus. Volunteers spent time in five different areas on our 1,200-acre campus: the labyrinth, community garden, dog kennels, chessboard and horse barn. From debris clean-up and repainting rocks at the labyrinth to mulching dog kennels to repainting the chessboard, Home Depot volunteers gave their time and energy to revitalize these areas. In the community garden, they repurposed garden beds and rebuilt new ones for our upcoming spring planting. They weeded and mulched the garden, replaced the fencing around the edge of the garden and spruced up the fairy garden area too! At the horse barn, they built a new staircase, put in a drainage pipe, built a new stall, cleared a pathway and riding ring, painted a mural, painted a picnic table and created a barn quilt!

The level of planning to execute this project was only surpassed by the amount of heart each

(From left to right) Ryan Shaffer, Amy Mock, Kristin McNeil and Eric Ritter were the amazing team leaders who created, coordinated and executed the The Team Depot event with Youth Villages.

Home Depot continues on page 5

Home Depot volunteers provided invaluable support to numerous locations on the Inner Harbour campus.

THE RHYTHM OF THEIR OWN DRUM

Since 1996, West African Therapeutic Drumming has been an active part of the therapeutic programming on the Inner Harbour campus. Created and curated by Tom Harris, the program has expanded from the Youth Villages Georgia campus to the Memphis residential campus. It includes instructor training that helps youth and staff through the power of drumming.

With Harris’ recent retirement, Tatiana Kittel has taken the lead. Her vision is to continue the program by including more African dance, learning different instruments and introducing French and Sou Sou languages. Kittel studied in Guinea earlier this year.

“I learned how to be okay with being uncomfortable and recognized that is where there is room for growth. When you have an experience where you realize you are uncomfortable and you stay with it, lean into it, on the other side of facing it, there is a great sense of accomplishment,” Kittel said. “I want our youth to experience that. It will undoubtedly help them where they are now, and it will be an experience that helps them navigate the world when they leave Youth Villages.”

In her travels, Kittel learned that, in other cultures, a young person often goes through a rite of passage called initiation: the process of transitioning from one stage of life to another. It is

where a youth, in their adolescence, travels away from their village to learn tools and skills and then returns to their community as a woman or man.

Kittel envisions the drumming program intentionally teaching our youth about initiation because that is what many of the youth in our care are experiencing. “I want our children to know they matter; that they are a part of a team, and their voice is welcomed and wanted in the conversation. This gives them a sense of their value, individually and collectively, and that is what drumming and dancing teaches them,” Kittel said.

Each spring, the drumming program holds a drum raffle where the community can support The Summer of African Dance program by buying raffle tickets to win a handmade dunun set. This program runs every summer for five weeks on the Inner Harbour campus and culminates with a performance in which all 128 youth can share what they have learned with our Inner Harbour community, and we can celebrate them.

“For our kids, dance is what helps them to feel free, to express themselves and to embody joy,” Kittel said. “It allows them the opportunity to be comfortable and creative with their bodies and learn how to dance to their own beat, all while being supported by their staff.”

SCAN AND SUPPORT THE SUMMER OF AFRICAN DANCE AND THE DRUM RAFFLE.

WEST AFRICAN THERAPEUTIC DRUMMING PROGRAM EXPANDS WHAT IS POSSIBLE WITH THE SUMMER OF AFRICAN DANCE

Home Depot continued

of the volunteers brought to give back to Youth Villages. A very special thank you to Kristin McNeil, Amy Mock, Eric Ritter and Ryan Shaffer, who were the backbone of this day’s success through their direction and leadership. After a couple of years of being unable to gather in person, this day of service was a reminder of the enormous impact of giving back.

This year, Youth Villages is expanding engagement efforts for our community partners. We can offer companies and organizations a quarterly engagement opportunity, including a presentation about Youth Villages and a self-care training for your employees or group, a half- or full-day service project on the Inner Harbour campus for team building and giving back, along with creating peer-to-peer or in-kind drives to support Backpack Heroes and Holiday Heroes. Please reach out to Community Engagement Manager Kimmy Yon at kimmy.yon@ youthvillages.org if you are interested in becoming a community partner.

ELEVATING THE INNER HARBOUR CAMPUS

A preview of some exciting plans in the works that will transform our residential care campus in Douglasville.

For decades, Inner Harbour has served as a refuge of hope and healing for children and youth with severe emotional and behavioral challenges. Since taking over operations of the Inner Harbour campus in 2009, Youth Villages has invested in improving several facilities on our beautiful 1,200-acre wooded campus. However, we’ve outgrown many of these small, outdated spaces, and many of the buildings (some constructed in the 1960s/70s/80s) have more than served their purposes. It’s time for us to grow, to modernize our resources and to think more progressively about how we use our space to facilitate our services. We want to improve our technological resources, introduce more therapeutic activities and bring some synergy to the campus.

With these goals in mind and with the leadership and support of our local and national boards, we have begun the process of embarking on a multi-year strategic effort to elevate the way residential therapeutic services are offered in Georgia. The first phase is scheduled to begin this year, with the construction of a new administration

building and a new cottage that will house an additional 16 young people. This cottage will serve as a prototype for four additional cottages which are planned to follow. Later phases will include a new state-of-the-art school building; a wellness center, complete with an indoor basketball court; improved medical facilities; movie theatre; yoga studio; swimming pool; and therapeutic drumming center. When the project is complete, we will increase our capacity by 28 total beds, allowing us to reach more young people with the transformative work that has taken place at Inner Harbour for years.

We look forward to sharing more details of this project in future editions of New Heights. We will need the help and support of the community to make this project a reality, and we look forward to working with you to establish Inner Harbour as a place that changes lives for decades to come.

Please contact Director of Development Matt Jarrard at matthew.jarrard@youthvillages.org or 678-978-0520 if you would like to learn more about ways to financially support this project.

Caiden’s Intercept specialist incorporated Caiden’s love of art and sculpting into their sessions to help Caiden feel more comfortable with opening up.

CAIDEN’S STORY

® specialist received a voicemail from Jade, a 23-year-old mother whose son, Caiden, was in our

“Thank you so much for coming here today and always supporting me through this whole thing. I told my case worker that even when our case closes, I 100% recommend you for other families where parents are in addiction. I truly believe if it wasn’t for you, I would not be getting my kids back. I am so truly thankful for Youth Villages, and there has been

a complete change from when we started working with you to now. You gave my family a chance. I appreciate you very much!”

Jade had Caiden when she was 16 years old and struggling with addiction. She was homeless and unemployed and could not take care of her child. Caiden was placed with his grandmother. Over the next few years, Jade was in and out of rehab and had two more children, who also were placed with their grandmother. Determined to become the best mother she could, Jade was ready to take the necessary steps to get her children back. The state told Jade about Youth Villages’ intensive in-home services program, Intercept. They shared that this program would help stabilize her children in their

grandmother’s home while also helping Jade with her goals and regaining custody of her kids.

“I thought Youth Villages was just going to be another headache,” Jade said. “I was told they were very strict; services were intensive, and they would see us more frequently. I didn’t want to work with them. But I wanted my kids back, so I was willing to give it a chance.”

The state gave Jade one year to complete an extensive list of things to accomplish before they would consider reuniting her with her children. Jade worked hard to become and stay sober, find a job and secure a place to live.

Jade made incredible progress through the Intercept program, and the state agreed to place her children back in

Jade and her son, Caiden, are grateful to Intercept for bringing their family back together.

her care. Jade was nervous to have all three of her children in her home for the first time, but Youth Villages continued to work closely with the family even after they came home. Their Intercept specialist worked with Caiden on his mental health struggles, including ADHD, and made sure he had the proper support both at home and at school. They worked with Jade on how to safely and calmly deescalate difficult situations among the children and getting everyone into a regular routine. Youth Villages made sure the family had all the essential items and resources they needed to ensure success and even provided tips on how to organize their new home and prevent clutter.

The Youth Villages team says Caiden and his siblings are incredibly happy to be home with their mom. They love spending time playing outside as a family and every day, they go to bed excited about what the next day will bring.

“Everyone at Youth Villages is so caring,” Jade said. “[The team] puts so much into their jobs. They care about us, and I truly love them.”

A NEW ‘LINE’ OF HOPE, HELP

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to shine a light on the often-stigmatized topic and to educate others on the warning signs and how to get help. People, young and old, can be saved with knowledge and intervention.

Recent studies, though, show the U.S. still has a long way to go in this area. Reports reveal the declining mental health of the population in the United States, especially among children and teenagers. According to the Census Bureau, over two-thirds of Americans live in areas lacking mental health professionals. In addition, four in five teens who attempt suicide gave clear warning signs according to The Jason Foundation, which is dedicated to preventing youth suicide.

While warning signs are evident, family and friends may not know the direction to take—or number to call—to get help and care. Now, the way to access help for those struggling with mental health challenges has been made simpler.

In the summer of 2020, the U.S. began transitioning from its 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number to 988 to call or text for around-the-clock crisis care. By July 16, 2022, all telephone service and text providers were required by law to activate the 988 number.

“It was federally recognized that there was a need for people to more easily access services when experiencing a crisis and that led to 988 being rolled out on a federal level,” said Raquel Shutze, program director for Youth Villages Specialized Crisis Services.

Once a call or text is made, the individual is connected to a call center with crisis professionals who can assist and provide intervention at whatever level is needed. According to Shutze, the calls and texts—at times—are passed to a mobile crisis provider in the area.

The 988 number provides an access point for care no matter where the individual is in the U.S.

“The 988 number gives us a universal language across the country as a way to access help when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, much like 911 is used for emergency services,” said Brittany Farrar, regional director for Middle Tennessee programs. “If someone is in a different state from where they live, they don’t have to look up a local or state crisis number. Instead, 988 gives them an access point that no matter where they are in the United States.”

The 988 number is gaining traction in the U.S., as more are using it as a first step for mental health care. In turn, the increase in 988 calls brings in a Youth Villages community-based program—Intercept—that, according to Farrar, helps those in midst of a crisis to remain safe and stable in their home and community.

“It’s important that, as we increase those entry points to reach help, we also have more accessible community-based services like Intercept that are proven effective to work with this population,” Farrar said.

Check out the Youth Villages social media accounts in May for more about Mental Health Awareness Month.

DONOR SPOTLIGHT

How did you become involved with Youth Villages?

I first learned about Youth Villages as a student studying psychology at Lee University. One of my classmates went on to work at a Youth Villages residential program, helping youth with mental and behavioral challenges. A few years later, I decided to pursue a master’s degree specializing in children and youth. In 2014, I earned a degree in holistic child development with the goal of working with foster youth to help set a foundation for a healthy and happy future. I was drawn to the LifeSet™ program at Youth Villages and nearly accepted a job as a LifeSet specialist.

What sets Youth Villages apart in its work?

LifeSet at Youth Villages focuses on young adults transitioning out of foster care. As a culture, we do not generally equip 18-year-olds to be fully functioning adults. Many of us rely on parents and caregivers for support well into our 20s and beyond. Without stable housing, strong connections, healthcare, job skills and life skills, it is difficult to navigate building a good life. There’s a gap in the system for children and youth from unstable backgrounds. Youth Villages provides extensive and restorative support for young adults to learn to thrive.

Why should someone consider becoming more involved with us?

It is a smaller task to help a child grow into a healthy adult than to try to heal adults with years of unhealthy coping mechanisms from childhood trauma. Youth Villages does the difficult and vital work to

LAUREN HUNTER

CONSISTENT GIVING MAKES A DIFFERENCE— LAUREN HAS BEEN A MONTHLY SUPPORTER OF YOUTH VILLAGES GEORGIA SINCE 2014

guide children and youth at different stages toward healing and wholeness through multiple approaches and programs. Supporting and getting involved with Youth Villages is a way to bring about good change and hope. You have a passion for youth aging out of foster care, and you even opened your home to two brothers aging out of foster care who needed a home. What did you learn from that experience?

My husband and I knew the boys through volunteering with our church for a few years. When it was clear they did not have a stable place to

stay, we began to spend more time together. They each spent multiple years in our home while in their early 20s. Some of the most significant impact on their lives came from a stable place to stay and a soft place to land. One described it as “a place of peace.” Stability in the home, food and loving support freed up the mental space for more strategic thinking about the future, including jobs and relationships. We saw a shift from surviving to living. One role we played was to have a vision for their lives—who they could be and how they could live.

Lauren Hunter, husband Than and daughters Zoe and Eve.

YOUTH VILLAGES GEORGIA DONORS

JULY 1, 2022 TO DECEMBER 31, 2022

VISIONARY

$50,000 TO $99,999

J. B. Fuqua Foundation

PILLAR

$25,000 TO $49,999

Google Data Centers

LEADER

$10,000 to $24,999

J.C. Kennedy Foundation

Matthew and Elizabeth Rose

PROTECTOR

$5,000 to $9,999

Clark and Ruby Baker Foundation

Benning Construction Company

Caiola & Rose, LLC

The DeNyse Cares Foundation

GreyStone Power Foundation

Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation

BUILDER

$1,000 to $4,999

David Albano

Brenda Ambrosius

Kiwanis Foundation of Atlanta, Inc.

Richard C. Munroe Foundation

Custard Insurance Adjusters, Inc.

Caroline Ledlie

Cobb EMC Community Foundation

Rob and Elinor Douglass

Georgia Power Foundation

Lauren Hunter

Stan Jones and Barbara Cleveland

Clay Lee

Mr. and Mrs. Xavier Mann

Adrienne Mittons

Publix Super Markets

QuikTrip Corporation

Glen P. and Laura Mae

Robinson Foundation

Matthew Tarkenton

Tull Charitable Foundation

United Way of Greater Atlanta

FRIEND

$500 to $999

Consolidated Planning - Atlanta

Cummin Landscape Supply

Mr. and Mrs. Philip Davis

Reynolds DeLisle

Dustin Hall

Kimberly Knight

Gretchen McClain

Katharine McDowell Post

Bill and Leslie Nunn

Heather Rivera

TIAA Financial Services

$100 to $499

Kyle Alexander

Sidney Amorim dos Santos

Ralph Anderson

Guillermo Avalis

Scott Bailey

Brooks Battle

Erika Birg

Dr. and Mrs. H. Thomas Blum

John Brooks

Barbara H Caldwell

Linda Cooper

Mr. Donald Crampton

Susan Crooks

Victor Dean

Vivek Dhir

Kimberly Diamond

David Dihel

Mike Fiery

Deborah Fuchs

Mark Giddens

Matt Goudreau

Don Harrison

Mr. and Mrs. Carl Hein

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Hein

Deundrae Hendrix

Scott Holler

Yusif Jaouni

Abigail Johnson

Ian Ker-Seymer

Kimberly Clark

Matching Gifts

Jacquelyn Lankford

Molly Lynch

Robert Malone

Madison Marsteller

Germaine Martin

John McCollum

Petrina McDaniel

Scott Mclain

James Miley

Amy Mock

Grace Nelson

Scott Patman

Wendell Peete

Robert Rearden, III

Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Reed

Christina Romano

Jeffrey Rosenthal

Carrie Russell

Diya Sandeep

DCHS Class of ’87

J Denton Shamburger

Julie Sinisgalli

Christie Sires

Splunk

Juanita Stedman

Matt Swift

Jolanda Walther

Brian Williams

Charity Williams

Monique Winters

Julie Witzel

Kimmy Yon

CELEBRATING OUR OUTCOMES!

7/1/22–12/31/22

362 TOTAL YOUTH SERVED IN ALL GEORGIA PROGRAMS IN 6 MONTHS

89% POSITIVE PROGRAM EXITS

89.1% OVERALL SATISFACTION AT DISCHARGE

89.5% YOUTH WHO UPON DISCHARGE, ARE IN SCHOOL, GRADUATED OR ARE EMPLOYED

83.7%

THERE ARE NUMEROUS WAYS YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN YOUTH VILLAGES’ PROGRAMS.

BE A BACKPACK HERO

JOIN OUR EFFORTS BECOME A FORCE FOR FAMILIES

Make a gift, mentor or volunteer to support our Youth Villages Georgia programs. Your support makes an incredible impact in the lives of hundreds of children we serve each day in Georgia.

Every child deserves a great education. They’re counting on heroes like you for that opportunity. A new backpack full of school supplies truly can have a profound impact on a child’s learning experience.

You can be a Youth Villages Backpack Hero by donating backpacks filled with school supplies or making a financial contribution to support a child in your community. Visit our website to check out our wish list items, and consider hosting an in-kind drive with your family or company to support the young people in our care.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT AMBRIAH BROWN, GEORGIA DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, AT AMBRIAH.BROWN@YOUTHVILLAGES.ORG

Gifts of Cash, Appreciated Stock, Planned Gifts, Corporate or Foundation Donors

Matt Jarrard, Director of Development, Georgia matthew.jarrard@youthvillages.org | 678-978-0520

Use this information to recommend a grant from your Donor Advised Fund through your fund administrator: Tax ID 62-1652079

Youth Villages Foundation, Attn: Georgia 3320 Brother Boulevard, Memphis, TN 38133

Community Engagement, Events & Volunteering

Kimmy Yon, Community Engagement Manager kimmy.yon@youthvillages.org | 404-667-1334

Become a Mentor: youthvillages.org/mentoring Katrina Word, Mentor Program Manager katrina.word@youthvillages.org | 404-695-9159

GET INVOLVED STAY IN TOUCH ONLINE

twitter.com/youthvillages

facebook.com/youthvillages

instagram.com/youthvillages

linkedin.com/company/youth-villages

youtube.com/youthvillages

YOUTH VILLAGES

4685 Dorsett Shoals Road

Douglasville, GA 30135

(Address Service Requested)

Youth Villages is a private nonprofit that serves more than 36,000 children and their families each year from offices in the following cities:

Alabama: Auburn, Birmingham, Mobile

Arkansas: Little Rock, Searcy, West Memphis

Florida: Lakeland

Georgia: Atlanta, Douglasville

Indiana: Bloomington, Columbus, Indianapolis

Louisiana: Metairie

Kentucky: Lexington, Louisville/Jeffersonville (Indiana)

Massachusetts: Boston, Marlborough, Raynham, West Springfield, Woburn

Mississippi: Biloxi, Greenwood, Hattiesburg, Hernando, Jackson, Meridian, Tupelo

New Hampshire: Manchester, Plymouth

North Carolina: Asheville, Boone, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, Louisburg, Raleigh-Durham, Waynesville, Wilmington

Ohio: Worthington

Oklahoma: Oklahoma City, Tulsa

Oregon: Bend, Portland, Salem

Tennessee: Chattanooga, Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Dickson, Dyersburg, Jackson, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, Morristown, Nashville, Paris

Washington, D.C.