www.friendsoffamilies.org 
(April 27, 2012) This is the website of Friends of Families with Children in Crisis Foundation.  
Check it out.  Help a family, save a child.






TARGETED GIVING  


Some schools/programs have designated funds established in their name by The Foundation.  Such special funds, administered by The Foundation and identified for specific schools/programs enable donors to target their support for schools/programs that have impacted their lives.  Such assigned funds will be used to support students in the named school as long as the school remains in good standing with The Foundation.  Donations may not be assigned by donors to particular students/families.  


Currently the majority of support for The Foundation comes from alumni parents. We seek support from other foundations, corporations, and individuals with a committment to helping at-risk youth.  Please contact a foundation representative if you know of an organization, or if your employer provides matching donation opportunities.
  

WHY FRIENDS OF FAMILIES FOUNDATION WAS FORMED

The Friends of Families with Children in Crisis Foundation, originally founded in 1998 as The Friends of CEDU Foundation, is a non-profit corporation recognized as a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization by the Internal Revenue Service.  Established as a separate, independent self-governing organization, the Foundation is managed and directed by volunteer trustees who are alumni parents.  


While they and their childen were participating in a therapeutic program, they witnessed the pain and frustration felt when families are compelled to withdraw their child prior to completion.  Recognizing the importance of program completion and understanding the unique and sensitive nature of the situation, The Foundation was formed to eliminate student attrition due to financial need.  The Foundation's purpose is to provide financial assistance to families where a lack of financial resources jeopardizes a student's continued enrollment. 


The Foundation is focused on helping families with both parents/guardians who are committed to participating in their children's education/programs and students who are diligently progressing in those programs.  


The Foundation will allocate a majority of its aid in the form of collateralized loan quarantees for the benefit of families who do not qualify under conventional loan programs.  The Foundation backed loans will be granted with competitive interest rates and will not require any collateral from benefited families.  The typical loan will have a 15 year repayment terms.

FAMILY TESTIMONIALS

I am so appreciative for The Foundation's help. It was a pure blessing that The Foundation was able to help with my daughter. Without their help, Katie would not have been able to finish her Senior year. I am so proud of her. I owe The Foundation so much, they saved my daughter. I don't want to think of what might have happened had she returned home before finishing. They should be called the Angel Foundation. How can I ever thank them."
"Warmest regards to The Foundation from a very grateful mother." Nanci

"Because of the generosity of [The Foundation] we were able to see our daughter, Ashlee graduate with her High School Diploma from Northwest Academy. To see her on stage with her diploma in hand was such a moment of pride and satisfaction for all of us. Ashlee had worked so hard at Northwest Academy, and to have to pull her out of Northwest Academy because we couldn't afford to pay her tuition would have ruined all of the hard work Ashlee and our family had done. We can never thank [The Foundation] enough. Their financial aid helped to get our beautiful sweet daughter back." Marilyn

A FAMILY'S TESTIMONIAL

I feel forever grateful and indebted to you and all the people who work hard to raise the funds to support families like ours. You have a permanent residency in my heart. I wish you all the best to you personally and to the Foundation." Here is part of this family's story, "On December 6, 2010, my family participated in the graduation ceremonies at Monarch School. My 16 year old son was one of the graduates. Proudly speaking to a room full of staff, students, and families, my son said, "Without this school, I most likely would have been dead." That momentous graduation day, filled with great pride, deep gratitude, joy and hope would not have come to pass without your support. My son entered the therapeutic boarding school in May 2009. He was, at the time, as he said, inches away from being another horrifically tragic teen statistic. In October 2009, I ran into serious financial difficulties. With the downturn of the economy, I found myself, as a single mother, unable to continue to pay my son's required monthly tuition.

Friends of Families with Children in Crisis Foundation and the Monarch Parent Foundation immediately responded to my plea for support. They not only advanced the necessary funds for my son to continue his program, but took care of all the necessary logistical and administrative work in such a way that I felt completely surrounded by my closest and more reliable friends, and yet I had not met any of the folks who worked to make it all happen. To this day, I don't even know who most of them are nor what they look like! And they did this not once but twice. It turned out that my son needed to stay a few months longer at the school than originally planned in order to complete his important emotional growth program, and I still did not have sufficient funds to make that happen. And twice, Friends of Families with Children in Crisis and the Monarch Parent Foundation responded with great urgency.

My son is home now. He is a strong and solid teenager, clear about his goals in life, confident with himself and proud of his accomplishments. He became a leader at his therapeutic boarding school, the go to student, the one that others looked up to for inspiration and guidance. He went from being an F student who thought that his lot in life was to be a despicable failure to being a straight A student who is looking forward to great successes and contributions in his life. Two years ago, death seemed to him like a desperately needed reprieve from an interminable nightmare. Today, he looks to the future with great hope and enthusiasm. That would absolutely not have been possible without the support I received. There are many families whose children, like my son, are walking the thin line between innocent joy and utter despair, between sanity and insanity, or between life and death. I hope that my story can inspire you to donate generously to the Friends of Families with Children in Crisis so that other parents can receive the support they need to save their children." Forever grateful, The mother of a lucky child

ONE FOUNDING TRUSTEE'S PERSONAL COMMITTMENT . .

As a father, I experienced first hand the anguish, fear and hopelessness that come with having a child in crisis. It was difficult for my family but we were blessed to have found a school that could help and thankfully, in our situation we had the financial means to pay for it. For the first time in a long time we saw hope, the life in my daughter's face was priceless. Unfortunately while she was enrolled we witnessed the same fear and anguish from families who were faced with not being able to afford their child’s program completion.

While attending a parent education workshop, a few other parents and myself were discussing this unfortunate occurrence and we were heartbroken and frustrated. We were seeing the results of our children’s journey’s and couldn’t imagine other children who were less fortunate not being able to complete theirs. Then in a different conversation with my daughter, I saw in her eyes the anguish of not having her friends who had been through so much with her not being able to experience the pride and self-confidence that comes from program completion. It was then that I knew I had to act. Together with a group of equally concerned and committed parents, The Foundation was formed. While we wanted to help all children, we were particularly touched and connected to those who were already committed and in the process of healing. Knowing the value of “finishing what you started”, we decided to focus The Foundations’ efforts to those families.

Since our inception in 1998, we are proud to have been able to have helped dozens of families in need.Through my own personal experience with a child in crisis, I have learned that there are many schools and programs that are changing the lives of young people in the way that CEDU helped mine. These schools and programs need our support.I invite you to join us in our mission to help families. Warmest Regards,Joel J. Horowitz, Trustee

GENEROUS DONATION FOUNDED IN GRATITUDE

(May 23, 2011)
The Friends of Families Foundation is excited that they have received a significant donation from The Ann & Joel Horowitz Family Foundation. We are so thankful and appreciative. "This donation allows us to continue our mission of helping families in need," said Brandi Elliott, Foundation liaison. "While we have helped dozens of families over the last 13 years for close to $1,000,000 in pledged support, there are still so many families with children in programs that need our help. "A therapeutic boarding school helped my family many years ago and Ann and I have been committed to "giving back" ever since," said Joel Horowitz, donor. "We hope that our donation and continued support of The Foundation encourages others to do the same. "For any questions regarding The Foundation or to make a donation, please visit the website or contact Brandi or Dr. Jim Powell at 951-317-3151.

SUCCESS THROUGH TOUGH TIMES

(December 7, 2010) One of our Benefiting Families shares, "Because of the generosity of 'Friends of Family' we were able to see our daughter, Ashlee, graduate with her High School Diploma from Northwest Acadeny. To see her on stage with her diploma in hand was such a moment of pride and satisfaction for all of us. Ashlee had worked so hard at Northwest Academy, and to have to pull her out of Northwest Academy because we couldn't afford to pay her tuition would have ruined all of the hard work Ashlee and our family had done. We can never thank 'Friends of Family' enough. Their financial aid helped to get our beautiful sweet daughter back . . . Marilyn . . ." During the holiday season we are once again reminded of the importance of family and friends. Even in the midst of continued challenging economic times, The Foundation remains blessed with generous donations enabling us to continue forward in our goal of assisting families. Thank you! ..For more of 2010 accomplishments, and looking forward to 2011, READ MORE
http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/publish/FriendsofFamiliesBN_120810.shtml