Mercer Youth to Benefit from Grants Supporting Local Nonprofit PEI Kids

Throughout 2013, Lawrenceville-based nonprofit PEI Kids will be utilizing several government, corporate and foundation grants it has received to help ensure the safety of Mercer County children.
By: PEI Kids/Diane Blaszka
 
Feb. 7, 2013 - PRLog -- Throughout 2013, Lawrenceville-based nonprofit PEI Kids will be utilizing several government, corporate and foundation grants it has received to help ensure the safety of Mercer County children. PEI Kids’ services include engaging and developmentally appropriate Prevention/Education and Intervention programs relating to personal safety; physical and sexual abuse; understanding physical and educational differences; school safety and bullying; anger management; gang prevention; and the overall well-being of the child and family. The lead agency of the Greater Mercer Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse, PEI Kids provides professional counseling to more than 95 percent of the child victims of sexual abuse in Mercer County.  

The most recent supporters of PEI Kids’ Crisis Intervention for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse Program, which serves more than 250 children and their families annually, include: The TJX Foundation, the State of New Jersey Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), the Mercer County Department of Human Services, and the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. Additional program supporters include the Viola W. Bernard Foundation, the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, the Lawrence Township Community Foundation, the Zonta Club of Trenton/Mercer. The TJX Foundation also provided gift cards PEI Kids used to purchase toys and clothing for local children during the holiday season.

Recent support for PEI Kids’ Comprehensive Juvenile Offenders Outreach Services (CJOOS), a court-mandated program aimed at first or second time juvenile offenders on probation has been awarded from the Nordson Corporation Foundation and Jannsen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Additional supporters include The City of Trenton (Community Block Development Grant), the Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund, and the Office of Faith Based Initiatives (OFBI), a Division of Programs in the Department of State.

Support for the organization’s primary prevention efforts, which include child assault and bullying prevention workshops in more than 60 area schools each year, has come from the PNC Foundation, Wells Fargo and the Trenton Thunder Charities, as well as the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. Foundations including the Merancas Foundation and the David Mathey Foundation have provided overall general operating support for the 28-year-old nonprofit.

“PEI Kids’ programs have a long history of proven results,” states PEI Kids Executive Director Penny Ettinger. “Child victims we counsel regain self esteem and experience a sharp reduction of nightmares, anxiety, and depression; and their family members gain a greater understanding of the traumas they’ve experienced. The at-risk youth in the juvenile justice system who we work with experience very low re-arrest rates and increase educational and job skills, self control and respect for authority. They also learn of and experience positive alternatives to gang culture. Prevention-wise, PEI Kids’ school workshops educate children, as well parents and school staff, about the sensitive topics of child assault and sexual abuse; personal safety; physical and sexual aggression; and self-protection strategies -- resulting in a healthier, safer community for our children. Of course, we couldn’t do any of this without the support of our funders, and we are incredibly grateful for the confidence that our grantors, as well as our individual donors, show in us.”

About PEI Kids
PEI Kids’ aspiration for the children of Mercer County, NJ, is “Safe Kids, Sound Futures.” Currently serving approximately 16,000 children and their families each year, the nonprofit organization began in 1985 when, while working at a rape crisis center, its founders discovered there were no local services tailored for children who had been sexually abused. For the past 28 years, its mission has been dedicated to promoting and maintaining a safe environment for all children. Its services have expanded to include engaging, developmentally appropriate and culturally diverse Prevention/Education and Intervention programs relating to personal safety; physical and sexual abuse; understanding physical and educational differences; school safety and bullying; anger management; gang prevention; and the overall well-being of the child and family. It is currently the lead agency of the Greater Mercer Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse. PEI Kids also provides client services to foster care children and their biological families, supervising more than 1,600 family visits each year and transporting foster children and family members to visitations, and medical and other important appointments. To learn more about PEI Kids’ many programs and services for Mercer County children and families, and how you can support its efforts, please call 609-695-3739 or visit www.peikids.org. All calls regarding possible abuse are confidential.
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Source:PEI Kids/Diane Blaszka
Email:***@peikids.org Email Verified
Zip:08648
Tags:PEI Kids, Mercer County, Children, Child Abuse, Ettinger
Industry:Non-profit, Family
Location:Lawrenceville - New Jersey - United States
Subject:Awards
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