As a Board member of Children of the City, I often come across the interesting stories of those kids who are benefiting the most from our programs. Each child has his or her own unique story, that in some cases, brings tears to the eyes. Here's one for example ... Jesenia was attacked by a savage pit-bull and left with scars. She also suffered from a brain hemorrhage, which left the doctors wanting to experiment. Three surgeries later, this little Hispanic girl had face reconstruction, and walked with her head down looking at the ground, afraid to look people in the eye because she was ahsamed of her scars.
When Mary, one of our Children of the City counselors began working with Jesenia and her family, she found out that her mother did not speak English -- so she accompanied them to the hospital and interpreted with the doctors and surgeons, then continued to work with the family and help them through the recovery process.
Jesenia also attended the Children of the City girl's mentoring group meetings, and today she walks with her head held high.
The charity has a number of programs, including educational as well as support programs like the one Jesenia attended. One program was started after Tuesday, 9/11 when Children of the City was one of the first programs to reach out to children who lost family members and loved ones, traumatized by visually seeing the attacks. The program was named, Heal New York, and we continue to counsel with these children and their families to this day. More than 600 children and youth have been served to-date through Heal New York, whereby counseling sessions have been provided in the homes monthly.
Children of the City expanded its Heal New York counseling program to a broader populace of children due to the large amount of pre-existing trauma and prevailing mental health challenges.
To learn more about educational programs like this please visit my Rocco Basile charity website.
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