How Your Donations Help YSI Clients
The purpose of this story is to show the impact that donations from our supporters have on our clients.
A family in Youth Service, Inc.’s (YSI) Truancy Program recently received a donation of a cot and linens from one of our generous donors. The family was originally referred to YSI in December for truancy. There were serious barriers causing the 8 year old child to miss school, however the depth of the barriers were unknown to YSI at this time.
“When YSI Executive Director Gwen Bailey sent the email asking if anyone could use a cot, I did not have a particular family in mind, but I knew that someone would need it,” said Keshia Brunson Truancy Program Supervisor. Keshia knows from experience that many YSI families are in need of tangible items such as beds.
A joint home visit with Ms. Brunson and a case manager unfortunately led to 4 children ages 8, 5, 2, and 11 months being removed from their home with their mother. The children had to reside with their paternal grandmother since their father died suddenly on Thanksgiving Day in 2017. However, the paternal grandmother was not prepared to take in her grandchildren and she needed extra supports.
“It started when we decided to get rid of a rollaway cot and I checked first with Gwen to see if the shelter could use it or any of their clients. She referred me to Keshia,” said Linda Wolohan. “I asked if they needed bed linens for the cot and she said they didn’t have linens for any of the beds. So I bought them linens and blankets.”
Thankfully, the timing of receiving the donation of the cot and the linen from the donor caused the Department of Human Services (DHS) to allow the paternal grandmother to keep the 4 children together. If that cot was not given to the paternal grandmother the day before DHS came to inspect the paternal grandmother’s living quarters the children would have been separated and put into foster care.
The paternal grandmother only had 1 set of full sheets for her bed. The donation of the full set of linens helped ease a lot of her stress as well. YSI was able to purchase a pack n’ play for the baby. Being able to transition to their grandmother and not to strangers helped lessen their trauma.
To learn more about how you can give back to Youth Service, Inc., visit https://ysiphilly.org/give/ and contact our Marketing Manager at dbrightcliffe@ysiphila.org .