In 2002-2003 TLC
researched the growing perception that there was an increasing
number of Johnson County youth that were at-risk and homeless.
Sister agencies, local law enforcement departments, county entities,
and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, all
partnered with us as we researched this perception. We discovered
that our perception was actually a fact and that there were a
mushrooming number of “street kids” appearing in our county.
Armed with what
we discovered we wrote a federal grant and were awarded $100,000 a
year for three years as “seed money.” This grant pays for about 50%
of the cost of our Street Outreach Program (SOS). When we started
the program we were amazed! A couple of hundred youth we thought
were on the street actually turned out to be around a thousand.
In celebrating
two years of service through SOS we are thrilled that we have helped
hundreds of high risk youth to live a more productive life. The
story you will read below is representative of the youth we reach
out to every day. Your support this year has helped us to serve
nearly 6,000 children, youth, and families. We look forward to this
continued partnership in 2006. Happy Holidays to you and your
family!
Warmest personal
regards,
Bob Drummond,
Ed.D
President and
CEO
 
CHANGING
LIVES...
TLC's Street Outreach Services
On the
afternoon of October 5th, 2005, TLC's Street Outreach Services (SOS)
responded to a hotline call about an 18 year old female involved in
an abusive situation. She was living in an RV trailer park in
Louisburg, Kansas, with an adult male of no relation to her.
This youth had left her home to escape an environment filled with
drugs, gangs and violence. She hitchhiked all the way from New
Mexico to Kansas to escape her abuse.
Feeling scared
and hopeless, she eventually reached out for help and TLC was
contacted by the Olathe Salvation Army Center. Upon hearing
about this girl and her situation, SOS responded immediately by
driving to Louisburg
to pick her up
and bring her back to TLC for further care.
While
in TLC's care, this young lady became a model resident in TLC's
shelter home. SOS worked with her to get her into a
Transitional Living Program, helped her to fill out job applications
and helped her to strengthen her interviewing skills. She
learned valuable life lessons and today she lives in her own
apartment and is no longer homeless. When thanking TLC staff,
she commented, "I just needed someone to believe in me and give me a
chance. I will prove myself".
SOS
provides services to youth ages 12-17 who are homeless, at-risk of
being homeless, and/or are runaways living on the streets of Johnson
and Jackson counties. The goal of this mobile community based unit
is to provide safe and healthy alternatives to youth by assisting
them in either reconnecting with their family of origin (if safe to
do so) or in finding shelter, housing and/or other concrete
supportive services that may aid the youth in getting off the
streets. Street Outreach workers are able to provide immediate
resources like nonperishable food items, hygiene items, blankets,
and some clothing items. In addition to this, SOS provides crisis
intervention, family mediation, assistance with transitional living,
employment, educational opportunities, and health care resources.
SOS
celebrates its two year anniversary this month. Since its
inception in 2003 thousands of youth have been made aware that there
is a resource for them if they are ever in trouble. This year
alone SOS has made over 3,500 face to face contacts with youth at
concerts, community events, malls, movie theatres and parks and they
have succesfully removed 17 youth from the streets.
This
holiday season we strive to meet the needs of those youth who do not
have a safe and loving home in which to enjoy the season, those
youth who do not receive gifts and are unable to give them, and
those youth who will be hungry. Our goal is to reach as many
children and youth in crisis as possible and our gift to them is "a
chance to prove themselves".
Ideas for Giving at Year-end
As you consider
your year-end tax planning, we hope you will consider making a
charitable gift to TLC. A year-end gift to TLC not only provides
valuable tax benefits, but also demonstrates your belief in our
mission and your commitment to making a difference in the lives of
children.
Many types of
gifts allow you to fulfill your charitable intentions and may result
in immediate and possible future benefits to you. Gifts can be made
through a wide variety of methods including gifts of cash,
appreciated securities, bequests through a will or trust, gifts of
life insurance, life income gifts, and gifts of real estate.
For additional
information about gift planning ideas or to request our free
Ebrochures on a variety of estate planning topics contact Tim Keeton
at (913) 764-2887 or click
here and visit our gift and estate planning website.
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