Members of the Danbury Volunteer Fire Council and its 12 volunteer fire companies emptied truck after truck Saturday filled with toys for kids served by Family & Children’s Aid. The firefighters, many of them wearing Santa hats, unloaded the toys bucket-brigade style. There were basketballs and dolls, building blocks and stuffed animals, every toy imaginable for kids on Santa’s list.
On Saturday, December 20, 2014 at 10am The Danbury Volunteer Fire Companies will arrive in a caravan of fire trucks led by Santa loaded with gifts for the children of Family & Children’s Aid. This amazing group of fire fighters have been braving the cold every Friday night since Thanksgiving collecting toy donations outside of Toys R Us.
Over 70 board games were collected over the summer by Justin Tebbutts. His sister Gemma collected clothing for teens over the same period.
Creating a feeling of home for the teens in our adolescent group homes. "I think when they all first come to the house, their goal is to get out of the house as soon as they can. But over time, this becomes their home and as the discharge date comes closer and it becomes more real to them, a lot of them don’t want to go. They’re in a safe place. They’ve made friends. It’s their home."
There is a special place where over 1,100 of them can be found – climbing up a wall and hanging from the ceiling of the Memory Room. Each hand in this room was individually decorated and inscribed by volunteers with the first name of a child who spent at least one night with us, in a group home or safe home. The hands are updated annually to include all of the children we’ve cared for the previous year.
A $35,000 grant from GE will be used to provide materials and support for 2014 Week of Caring Projects happening all over the Family and Children’s Aid Danbury campus this September.
As the Director and primary forensic interviewer for the Multi-disciplinary Investigation Team (MIT), Donna Meyer is called to interview children in cases of suspected child sexual abuse and severe physical abuse that rise to the level of criminal or when a child witnesses a violent crime.
A new guidance center opened in Danbury by Family and Children's Aid.