Imagining Brighter Futures

REACHing Kids

At Dawn Patrol’s REACH program, the children are enthusiastic and having fun. Attendance is never a problem for the 40 children enrolled. They love coming. Yet while the children may not realize it, they’re actually working.

REACH, which runs in four Hamilton North-end elementary schools, provides early prevention and intervention services for children ages 8-12 at risk for conflict with the law. In its second year, over 75 children have participated in the program.

Up until its creation, a program like REACH wasn’t available in the community. Thanks to United Way funding, however, Dawn Patrol has been able to create a program that reaches out to children before they run into trouble.

“We saw a real need in the community for a program such as this,” says Kamille Ten Brink. “United Way funding enables us to get to vulnerable children at a vulnerable time. We can make a difference by using what we know works, at a time we know it will be most effective.”

In partnership with the school board, REACH teaches skills such as anger management, problem-solving and pro-social skills.

“What’s important is that REACH doesn’t just positively affect the children and families participating,” says Ten Brink.

Teachers, for instance, benefit from the additional resource since it enables them to spend more time teaching, and less time dealing with some of the side issues involved in classroom management.

“We have all wished a thousand times that we would have been there when a child stood on that fragile bridge between family and independence – to prevent their slip into troubled waters. Thanks to United Way funding, now we can.”

Changing Lives

United Way is a recognized leader in building community partnerships and promoting long-term solutions for local health and social needs. By focusing sharply on community impact, United Way works to promote and sustain the well being of everyone in our community through a network of agencies in Burlington and Greater Hamilton.

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