April is National Child Abuse Prevention month.
The Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) recently posted information about the staggering number of children entering the foster care system in 2018. According to a study that was updated in February of 2018, there are 15,000 children entering foster care in Georgia – an increase of 1,800 from 2017. To be a part of preventing child abuse, it is important to become aware of what is happening all around us.
The Open Arms Home for Children is dedicated to giving young girls a safe home and a chance to stop the cycle of disruption and abuse that runs so rampant from generation to generation. We care for girls in surrounding counties that are in foster care due to abuse and/or neglect. We partner with DFCS to provide for each of the girls’ individual needs to the best of our ability. Caring for these girls is a huge responsibility that we do not take lightly. Meeting the emotional, physical and educational needs are just the start of what we hope to provide for anyone that comes into our care. We want to give them new and amazing opportunities, a sense of comfort and safety, and the feeling that they are loved and valued for who they are.
As we draw near to a month that is dedicated to Child Abuse Prevention, Open Arms would like to ask you to partner with us to create the best and safest home these girls may have ever experienced or imagined.
Our goal is to raise $15,000 by the end of April 2019. We have a generous donor who is willing to match all donations up to $7,000. We know how possible this is because of the generous, loving, and giving community we get to be a part of. With your help, we hope to stop the cycle of abuse and neglect by caring for those who have been abused and neglected.
When you partner with Open Arms you are investing into the lives of young women who are taking huge strides towards successful futures. In just a few weeks one of our 15-year-old girls will be making her way to North Georgia Technical College to take the Accuplacer test because her teachers believe she has accomplished enough to start duel enrollment early. Over the next few months our High School senior will be taking the SAT and the ACT to prepare herself for higher education. We will soon have one girl with her driver’s license, and two with their learners’ permits. At the end of the school year our only Middle Schooler will be graduating and transitioning to High School for the fall of 2019. This is just a glimpse into the exciting spring we are having. Your donation is an investment into these girls and all the girls that come after them.
To donate, you can click the “DONATE” button on our Facebook page, click the “MAKE A DONATION” button on our website oahome.org, or mail a check to PO Box 2223 Blue Ridge, GA 30513.
Thank you to all our supporters who enable us to be the home that we are and become the home that we want to be. You are a part of preventing child abuse.
