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HELP NEGLECTED AND ABUSED YOUTH!!!
The proceeds from our fifth annual CHJ "Fore Kids" Great Golf Ball Drop Fundraiser will help us help the abused children in our programs. Here’s how it works – we sell tickets for 5,000 numbered golf balls – 1 for $5. Using a telehandler, we’ll drop all the golf balls sold onto a bulls-eye on a field. Several large monetary prizes are awarded to those whose tickets represent the balls that land closest to the bulls-eye. You must be 18 years or older to participate.
Jane’s Story
Jane has been in the foster care system since she was 9 years old. After her parents died within months of each other due to drug overdoses, she and her brothers were placed with a distant relative. This relative barely fed them, never sent them to school, and physically abused them regularly. After a neighbor reported they were never outside of the house, Jane and her brothers were placed in care because no family members were willing to take them.
Jane had a difficult time in care moving from placement to placement, from foster home to foster home all while grieving the loss of her parents and trying to look out for her brothers. When she turned 16 years old, she was assigned a Christian Home of Johnstown, Inc. Independent Living Project (CHJ ILP) Case Manager named Beth. Beth helped Jane complete several assessments that determined her knowledge of life skills. She also took tests to determine her academic functioning and career interests. With that information, Beth and Jane created an Individual Service Plan with specific goals to focus on Jane’s development of independent living skills. Jane participated in the CHJ ILP the entire time she was in care. While in care, Beth was constant support no matter where she was placed. When she was having trouble in school, Beth got her a tutor. Somehow through her changes in placements, her original birth certificate was lost, Beth helped her obtain a new birth certificate along with helping her to develop a portfolio of all her important documents. Along with the individual care, Jane attended several groups with other CHJ ILP participants. She participated in groups on Drug Prevention, Community Involvement, Safe Sex, Leadership Cooking Skills, and Banking/Budgeting/Money Management. She also went on college and industry tours and received certifications in CPR/First Aid.
Like many children in foster care, when Jane turned 18 years old she left the system. Jane thought she could make it on her own, so she cut off all ties she had in the system and moved in with her boyfriend. While out on her own, she fell into drug use and became homeless. One day, 6 months after leaving care, Jane reached rock bottom. Having nowhere else to turn and no one she knew and trusted to help her, she called Beth for help. Beth immediately helped her reenter care so she would not be homeless and helped her enroll in a drug and alcohol program. Today, Jane is 26 years old; she has steady employment, has an apartment on her own, and is a certified welder. Because of the help she received from the Christian Home of Johnstown, Jane has been drug-free for 3 years and has a better outlook on life. Jane successfully completed the IL program but knows we are always here for her. Recently, she did a presentation on her journey with the younger youth in our IL program.
Your Contribution Allows Us to Help These Children!
Jane’s story is similar to many children who are placed in the system due to neglect, abandonment, abuse, or like Jane’s case death of caregivers. Our program fills in the gap between caseworkers and placement staff. While legally an adult at the age of 18, for most people, the transition to independence is a gradual one. During these transition years, young people’s families provide financial assistance, help them decide on a career, and/or support them while they learn how to live independently. Unfortunately, kids in the foster care system don’t have this luxury: one minute they are children (dependent on the state for food, clothing, shelter, and health care), and the next minute they are on their own. Studies show that youth in foster care face significantly higher risks of homelessness, drug addiction, unemployment, early pregnancy, and jail time upon turning 18 than the general population. The Christian Home of Johnstown collaborates with Cambria County Children and Youth to provide foster kids in our area with the tools they need to become stable and productive adults. We are a small organization that has touched the lives of thousands of youth in similar or worse situations like Jane’s – and we need your help.
Saturday, August 19, 2023
5:00 PM EDT - 7:00 PM EDT
Highlands at North Fork
424 Country Club Road
Johnstown, PA 15905
Saturday, August 19, 2023
5:00 PM EDT - 7:00 PM EDT
Highlands at North Fork
424 Country Club Road
Johnstown, PA 15905