Child Life Disaster Relief

The Why behind our mission

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Back in March we introduced a partnership that dev

Back in March we introduced a partnership that developed between our Florida care team and the Florida Highway Patrol through a generous grant from the Northeast Florida Healthcare Coalition. Backpacks were provided to children and families who have been impacted by vehicular homicide. Corporals are able to provide a tangible backpack filled with toys and other activities to children whom might have lost a parent in a crash or been seriously hurt themselves.

Our Northeast Florida Program Manager, Danielle Eaves Hernandez, MPH, CCLS, CTRS, CPH, and contact with the Florida Highway Patrol victim advocate Sandy Ezell have continued on this program providing additional backpacks, resources, and even team building activities for the vehicular homicide unit.

They received a letter from a parent expressing their gratitude for the program along with these photos. In his letter, this young lady's father states "This "gift" provided a lot of relief to her during a tumultuous time. Like most children, she couldn't wait to open the backpack and unpack more gifts. Whether it was the fidget spinner or the coloring books or games, it provided her a sense of thankfulness, fun, and stress relief. The relevancy of the backpack was not lost either. As you can see from the pictures, the backpack either is on her bed or on the back of her chair, where she completes her homework. I can honestly say, this backpack, along with the fun things inside, still make her smile and that is such a powerful emotion after a stressful situation."

We are so grateful for this partnership and proud of the impact it has created. Like this post or add your messages of gratitude for this team in the comments!

Yesterday, an unfathomable event happened in Uvald

Yesterday, an unfathomable event happened in Uvalde, Texas. Just over a week prior, two others in Buffalo, NY and Milwaukee, WI.

In between, there were 15 more documented in the US alone.

Our world is hurting.

While we may do our best to shield the impact for the children around us, they are more intuitive than we know. They may pick up on our emotions. They may hear about it from others. They may walk by a television in the community and see it on the news.

Be there for them. Be honest and keep explanations simple.

If you need help having these conversations or providing support, our website has a section on man made disasters accessible to all.

Our whole hearts are with all who have been affected by these tragedies.

Please share these resources for all who may benefit.

#childlifedisasterrelief #cldr #childlife #childlifespecialist #ccls #disaster #manmadedisaster #shooting #violence #supportingkids #copingwithdisaster

With our virtual deployment supporting an orphanag

With our virtual deployment supporting an orphanage in Ukraine underway, we wanted to introduce you to some of the volunteer team members sharing their time and talents.
Let's meet the team!

First up:

Suzan J. Watkinson, MA, CCLS, CPMT
Fairfax County, Northern Virginia

Her favorite way of building rapport with children and adolescents:

When I introduce myself, I explain that my job is to reduce stress and increase coping. I often ask, "What is the most stressful part of today?" and when they tell me, we work on reducing that specific stress first. It works quite well to build rapport, and as the child's stress level decreased, trust is built. I then ask them who they brought with them today, and that helps the child introduce their parent(s) or caregiver.
Then I find out what their favorite snack is, or favorite sports team, or where they're from, and if they have any pets or siblings 🙂

Let's give her a round of applause by liking this post or dropping your favorite celebratory emoji in the comments! Thanks for supporting this project, Suzan!

#cldr #childlifedisasterrelief #childlife #ccls #childlifespecialist #supportukraine #disasterrelief #disasterrecovery #nonprofit #volunteer

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