Pearlene Armstrong (left) and Mollie Robertson are kinship caregivers helping their families raise the next generation and are advocates for the continuation of Mercer County’s only GrandFamily Success Center, a program of The Children’s Home Society of New Jersey.
Often, when a birth parent is unable to care for his or her child, the safest and most comforting environment for that child is with his grandparents or other extended family members whom he knows, loves, and trusts. The Children’s Home Society of New Jersey (CHSofNJ) offers supportive counseling and services to help connect kinship families with medical coverage, housing, child care, family support, and resources to help with legal issues such as guardianship and the right to make medical and educational decisions in the best interest of their kin children. One such program that has tremendously impacted the lives of many local caregivers is CHSofNJ’s GrandFamily Success Center (GFSC).
The GFSC is a community-based gathering place in Mercer County that supports and empowers relatives who have taken on the responsibility of raising their kin children. A Grant from The Nicholson Foundation that has funded the GFSC reaches the end of its 5-year term on December 31, 2015. Due to these funding changes, CHSofNJ will no longer be able to maintain the GFSC as a stand-alone program without the help of a new major funder.
The agency continues to search for new sources of financial support through state and federal grants and private donations to continue a separate kinship-focused Family Success Center, but in the meantime, CHSofNJ will provide a place for GFSC families to continue gathering for monthly meetings beginning in January, 2016. All GFSC families are invited to attend programs offered through CHSofNJ’s North and South Ward Family Success Centers in Trenton, which will incorporate kinship-centered workshops and activities into their calendar of events.
The GFSC families whose lives have been changed by this important program have refused to sit idly by waiting to see if a new major funding source can be identified. Caregivers have united to form a committee that has taken the lead in trying to ensure other kin children and families can benefit from this valuable resource as they navigate the world of kinship care. Their efforts to save the GFSC are truly a testament to the importance of the program.
The GFSC supports the health and well-being of caregivers and children whose birth parents are unable to care for them, and CHSofNJ looks forward to continuing to provide these services to kinship caregivers and their children. The program empowers kin families to achieve stability, and helps caregivers provide a safe and stable home for the children entrusted to their care.
To learn more about the GFSC or CHSofNJ’s other Kinship programs, visit chsofnj.org.
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