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There are many vulnerable populations of youth. Two groups in Freemont County, Lander Wyoming are the Freemont County Girls Group Home and high school girls attending the Pathfinder alternative high school.
Fremont County Group Homes (FCGH) provides the Lander Group Home for Girls for youth who are in need of short-term emergency shelter and care due to a crisis situation. The girls often arrive at the home on very short notice and with very few belongings. Many times they come from low-income families with substance abuse issues, unstable families that have fallen apart, or families with legal and social conflicts and a lack of other familial support. Some girls have social and emotional issues. Pathfinder High School is an alternative High School that is part of the Freemont County School District #1 and includes Lander, Hudson, Jeffery City, Atlantic City, and Ft. Washakie. Students attending Pathfinder may not have been successful in traditional educational programs and are often high-risk. Students may not have strong family support systems. Girls at the Group Home and Pathfinder include students from the Native American population and reservations in Freemont County.
The Counselor at Pathfinder and House/Program Manager at the Freemont County Girls' Home identified the needs for the program. In the case of both programs the girls often feel left out and forgotten. A significant part of their need is to understand that others care about them. Girls at Pathfinder High School also come to school hungry and there is a need for food for immediate consumptions. They also need hygiene items. The main focus for girls at the Group Home is comfort, understanding and being able to keep items with them if they are moved from place-to-place. They may arrive with few, if any, personal possessions.
This project will provide either backpacks or duffle bags filled with items to provide comfort and/or give support for basic needs. This will include items like: hygiene, including menstrual products, books/journals, small craft items such as pencils/markers/pens, fleece blanket, stuffed animal, socks, lotion, and hair styling items. The Girls Home needs about 50 bags and the Pathfinder High School needs about 15 per year.
The project will begin upon funding through the District Grant. The grant funds and club funds will be used to purchase the bags and the content. Rotarians will be involved in purchasing supplies and preparing bags. They will also deliver bags to both organizations for distribution.
Addendum to Project Description (added after the project was signed)
The Lander Rotary Club is seeking approval for different beneficiaries than those originally specified in its district grant, P-5700, for matching grants. The club members originally planned to give Bags of Comfort to girls at the County Girls Home. The home ran into management and operational problems, and it does not currently have the population to complete the project. Two club members suggested other recipients. Information about these recipients is below. Lander Rotary would like to continue the sharing of Bags of Comfort and Hope with the following groups. Bags will be allocated based on the number of girls served by each organization.
The Fremont County Department of Family Services Foster Care program has two social workers who are called when youth are in crisis and being removed from a home, according to D'Ann Nelson, Foster Care Coordinator/Fremont County. Our Rotary club has an ongoing relationship with DFS, providing funding and volunteer service hours to support the Foster Care Clothing Closet.
When children/youth are removed from a home, they typically have the clothes on their backs. The Bags of Comfort and Hope project would provide a direct message of comfort and hope to girls undergoing this crisis. Janet Seely, club member, reviewed the Bags of Comfort and Hope and the supportive contents therein with D'Ann. D'Ann believes the bags would be beneficial to the girls in these crisis situations.
Sacred Child - serving all children on the Wind River Reservation. The children served are placed at the shelter when no other option is available. They have been victims of abuse - physical, sexual or neglect. They also may have trauma from observing IPV, or substance abuse in their home.
They commonly arrive with nothing but the clothes on their back.
Wind River Cares Victim Services- serves all children on the Wind River Reservation. The children served by Victim Services have been victims of trauma, displacement, and/or abuse. They are often placed in foster care or guardianship with a family member. Due to their trauma, it is often unlikely that they have any of their personal possessions with them.
Eastern Shoshone DFS program - The director of this program identified the need for adolescents who are often victims of trauma, whether personally or by observing IPV and/or substance use. They have bags for younger children, but they don't have the hygiene or hair products. She was very excited about the Comfort and Hope duffles to provide for these adolescents and help alleviate some of the trauma in their lives.
Dr. Jackie Nelson, M.D.: I discussed the items in the bags with all of the above organizations on the reservations and program administrators believe that the Comfort and Hope Duffle bags would be hugely helpful for these young women/girls transitioning in a time of turmoil.
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