Families Forward - June 2003 Charity-of-the-Month

Families Forward
9221 Irvine Boulevard
Irvine, CA 92618

telephone: 1-949-552-2727
fax: 1-949-552-2731
email: info@families-forward.org
website: http://www.families-forward.org/


Our Mission
Families Forward exists to help families in need achieve and maintain self-sufficiency through housing, counseling, education and other support services.

The Problem
Families make up 70 percent of Orange County's homeless. In South Orange County alone, there are over 32,000 households with a combined income of less than $10,000 a year. Another estimated 87,548 families are at risk of becoming homeless (County of Orange).

Children and youth are the most vulnerable to the effects of poverty and homelessness. According to a report completed by economists of California State University, Fullerton, 242,052 children in Orange County (31.5%) are living in poverty. Children from low-income and homeless families are the most at-risk for malnutrition, mental illness, neglect, abuse, depression, and other disorders. They are also the least likely to receive any mentoring or guidance in the areas of academics, life goals, and self-preservation. Both of these components make it extremely difficult for youth to break the potential cycle of poverty that faces them.

The Cause
The high cost of living and lack of affordable housing in Orange County make self-sufficiency nearly impossible for low-income families. According to the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing, a family would have to earn at least $21.27 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment and basic necessities. The average wage of Families Forward clients is between $6.23 to $7 per hour.

For parents teetering on a financial edge, crises may occur that push them into homelessness, such as divorce, job loss or illness. And so, the cycle of poverty begins for those families as they struggle just to stand on their feet again.

The Solution
Families Forward is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving low-income and homeless families in South Orange County so that their children will have a stable home and a chance for a brighter future. Families Forward serves nearly 2,000 families per year.


Programs And Services For Families

Homeless Intervention Program
The most intensive among all Families Forward programs, the Homeless Intervention Program utilizes fourteen decentralized transitional homes to house homeless families for a maximum of one year. While families are in the program, they receive counseling and case management services to resolve issues of depression, child care, medical care, food assistance, low self-esteem, unemployment and various other concerns. Critical life skills education is also provided in topics such as budgeting and saving, debt reduction, parenting or stress management.

Homeless Prevention Program
This program is designed to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place by targeting families who are severely at-risk. Families within this program receive counseling and case management services for up to six months in order to stabilize their current crisis and avoid losing their home. The services available to at-risk families are similar to those of the Homeless Intervention Program.

Community Partners Program
Families Forward relies on a network of agencies to provide any resources or services not already available at our Family Program Center. Through the Community Partners Program, Families Forward has the ability to become a one-stop center that delivers holistic, comprehensive care to families with differing needs.

On- and off-site collaborative partner services include:

• Short-term family counseling
  
• Parenting and child abuse prevention programs
  
• Pre-and post-natal nutrition, education and medical examinations
  
• Basic medical care and child immunizations
  
• School readiness assessments for children
  
• Credit counseling
  
• Bilingual Spanish/English referrals and translation services
  
• Legal aid
  

Career Counseling
- Assistance with skills and career assessment, job search, soft-skills training, resumes, interviewing skills, basic technology education, and job coaching.

Food Pantry
- A 3,084 square feet pantry that serves 160,000 pounds of food a year to hungry families.

REACH For Success
- An educational workshop series that equips participants with important life skills knowledge and tools.

Teen REACH
- A life skills workshop series targeting youth and teens.

School-Based Counseling
- Counseling provided to youth through high schools and middle schools across South Orange County.

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