Chit Chattin away!

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Satharra

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My husband is right. I need to figure out a way to get active in Child Abuse issues without getting a degree in Child Psychology. I had a very hard childhood and I am set off emotionally very easy when I see child abuse happening. Surely there has to be something I can do? Some way I can volunteer and make a difference in some childs life? Even if it's only a few. I need to be proactive about this, for my own health and the health of other children, too. I need to do something. But my niche in life is Web Development. So I need to find some way that I can volunteer without having child care credentials. What can I do? Any ideas?

Big brothers/big sisters might be a good idea too. Or maybe do some work at a battered woman/children shelter.
 

Sallana

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Big brothers/big sisters might be a good idea too. Or maybe do some work at a battered woman/children shelter.

I will have to look into the big brother/sister program around this area. Not sure if I've seen a womens and children center around. But both really good ideas. Thank you!
 

Darkwitless

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Sallana: contact a local womens shelter - you could offer to update their site etc or particulate in their fund raisers - and they will be able to help steer you to where you can help the kids. I think something like 80% of the women at one of the shelters I volunteered for had kids.


You can also look into becoming a court appointed advocate. (CASA) . All are trained volunteers.


To a much lesser extent - what about Big Brothers/ Big Sisters? - not necessarily abused or negelcted but still missing a parent figure and more vulnerable to being abused or hooked into dangerous behavior as a result. My sister is a match cooridnator for the local BB/BG. They are always looking for Bigs.

I'm going to say this and I don't want to hurt your feelings: are you sure you're ready/healed enough to move into a venue like this? It may reopen your wounds. :-(

Funny: I'm against the death penalty - but I can guarantee I would be in jail if someone hurt one of my children.
 

asharp22

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I really would love to be a foster parent, but that's something that both husband and wife have to agree on. And husband is not all for it.

ditto. I've wanted to do that for a very long time, but he's just not into the idea at all... so now I'm going to school for psychology. Want to work with kids. Autism fascinates me, and I want to do clinical research. I wouldn't mind helping other kids who need couseling, but my passion is autism.

You may want to look at shelters. Domestic violence shelters often need volunteers for child advocates. Sometimes these kids see things and are just as affect as adults, they are often too small to say, "hey I'm a victim too". So that may be a place to start.

what kinds of things are you looking to help with? I'm great at matching people with certain skills to certain areas, it's part of my job as well!! :)
 

UntamedRose

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sallana........there is CASA National CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocate Association - CASA for Children: Advocating for Abused and Neglected Children

Being a CASA volunteer does not require any special education or background, simply the desire to help abused and neglected children find safe, permanent homes. The first steps are passing a background check and participating in a 30-hour training course. After successfully completing the course, the volunteer is assigned his first case. A volunteer's average time commitment to a case is approximately 10 hours per month. Volunteers are asked to stay with a case until it is closed, a year and a half on average.
 

gingersnaps

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check with your local child services if they use mentors. I was in the system from 14 on and eventually got a mentor. they call it something else here. but you get to spend time with the kids and help them out by just being a friend they can trust and talk to ect..


My husband is right. I need to figure out a way to get active in Child Abuse issues without getting a degree in Child Psychology. I had a very hard childhood and I am set off emotionally very easy when I see child abuse happening. Surely there has to be something I can do? Some way I can volunteer and make a difference in some childs life? Even if it's only a few. I need to be proactive about this, for my own health and the health of other children, too. I need to do something. But my niche in life is Web Development. So I need to find some way that I can volunteer without having child care credentials. What can I do? Any ideas?
 

Sallana

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Sallana: contact a local womens shelter - you could offer to update their site etc or particulate in their fund raisers - and they will be able to help steer you to where you can help the kids. I think something like 80% of the women at one of the shelters I volunteered for had kids.


You can also look into becoming a court appointed advocate. (CASA) . All are trained volunteers.


To a much lesser extent - what about Big Brothers/ Big Sisters? - not necessarily abused or negelcted but still missing a parent figure and more vulnerable to being abused or hooked into dangerous behavior as a result. My sister is a match cooridnator for the local BB/BG. They are always looking for Bigs.

I'm going to say this and I don't want to hurt your feelings: are you sure you're ready/healed enough to move into a venue like this? It may reopen your wounds. :-(

Funny: I'm against the death penalty - but I can guarantee I would be in jail if someone hurt one of my children.

No offense or hurt feelings over your question, as it's a very pertinent one. My husband and I have talked a lot about things I could do to further heal myself. I think the best thing for me right now is to help other children who may have gone through or are going through similar things that I did. To reassure them that it gets better, to give them a hug when they really need it.. To let them know someone cares. To do everything for them that no one did for me, is the only way I can imagine ever curing myself. It's the only way to make my childhood have any sort of meaning or purpose.
 

Sallana

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check with your local child services if they use mentors. I was in the system from 14 on and eventually got a mentor. they call it something else here. but you get to spend time with the kids and help them out by just being a friend they can trust and talk to ect..

That would be really great. I'll add that to my notes.
 

Sallana

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ditto. I've wanted to do that for a very long time, but he's just not into the idea at all... so now I'm going to school for psychology. Want to work with kids. Autism fascinates me, and I want to do clinical research. I wouldn't mind helping other kids who need couseling, but my passion is autism.

You may want to look at shelters. Domestic violence shelters often need volunteers for child advocates. Sometimes these kids see things and are just as affect as adults, they are often too small to say, "hey I'm a victim too". So that may be a place to start.

what kinds of things are you looking to help with? I'm great at matching people with certain skills to certain areas, it's part of my job as well!! :)

I just want to be there to help children find their way toward happiness, even if I don't end up to be the light at the end of the tunnel, I would love to be the guide. I don't have enough money, at least right now, to support another little human. But I want to help them. As I said in a few posts up.
sallana........there is CASA National CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocate Association - CASA for Children: Advocating for Abused and Neglected Children

Being a CASA volunteer does not require any special education or background, simply the desire to help abused and neglected children find safe, permanent homes. The first steps are passing a background check and participating in a 30-hour training course. After successfully completing the course, the volunteer is assigned his first case. A volunteer's average time commitment to a case is approximately 10 hours per month. Volunteers are asked to stay with a case until it is closed, a year and a half on average.

I actually cried after reading your explanation of the program as I hadn't gotten around to the link yet. This is exactly what I want to do. I will have to look into it and see if there's a program for it in my area.
 
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