RECENT GRANT TO HELP OUR CHILDREN

Remember the slogan, “A (wo)man never stands so tall as when they stoop to help a child?” A new Boca Raton children’s support group, the first of its kind in the US, and other schools with projects devoted to caregiving children, are among the recipients of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s $500,000 grant. About 15,000 children in Palm Beach County care for relatives with mental illness, disability or frailty, without any organized support, taking time away from their education and homework hours. The Volunteers Homebound & Family Caregivers Inc. are helping bring aid to those children, and to promote awareness of the dual role of youth who are both students and young caregivers within families. The Caregiving Youth Project will use grant money to determine whether 1,000 children are emotionally and physically healthy, get adequate education with time for homework. The funding will support 100 children in 10 schools. Among those being worked with are Boca Middle School, Congress Middle School and Lantana Middle School. Olympic Heights High School may be included. There are 192 Boca Middle School students who are caregivers.