Overcoming Addiction at Home: Hope and Healing for CV Children (2021-2022)
For more than 20 years, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation ‘s Children’s Program counselors have partnered with Coachella Valley schools to provide age-appropriate support to relieve children’s distress and lead them away from addiction and toward wellness.
This grant from the Irene W. and Guy L. Anderson Children's Foundation will help diverse and underserved children in the Coachella Valley who live with a parent or loved one that struggles with the disease of addiction. Participating youth will learn self-care strategies that will help them to live healthy lives and break the inter-generational cycle of addiction.
Your grant will allow children in the Desert Sands Unified School District and Coachella Valley Unified School District will participate in four-day Intensive Workshops led by counselors from the Hazelden Betty Ford Children’s Program. The youth will learn that they did not cause the disease of addiction, they cannot control or cure it, and they cannot change anyone who has the disease, but they can be better prepared to face their own challenges and grow up healthy and balanced.
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s Children’s Program will also conduct two bilingual (English/Spanish) in-person or virtual community outreach programs. These programs will introduce adults to the Hazelden Betty Ford Children’s Program. The first event will be for professionals who work with children and can refer boys and girls to the program. The second will teach caregivers and other community members about the inter-generational impact of addiction on families and about the ways in which the Children’s Program can help youth to lead healthy lives. Our Children’s Program counselors will also host six bilingual intensive education and prevention workshops in Indio, Coachella and Thermal. During the workshops, children will talk with our counselors and their peers (in whichever language is best for them) about their lives at home. The children will learn new ways to express and manage feelings. They’ll learn coping and self-care skills to use during tough times. Through fun and educational activities, they will gain confidence and reinforcement of positive behaviors.
Contact: Mr. Greg Fisher, Executive Director
Phone: (760) 636-5846
Email: GFisher@hazeldenbettyford.org