At Nellie’s we recognize that many of the women who access our services have children who are, like their moms, also going through crisis. Abuse destroys a child’s view of the world as a safe and predictable place. Children suffering from the effects of abuse and trauma might learn that you have to deal with your problems by yourself, bad things happen no matter how hard you try to be good, and life is not fair. In contrast, children who grow up with encouragement, fairness, and safety can approach life with enthusiasm and embrace new opportunities.
With this in mind Nellie’s has created a Childcare Program, supported through a generous donation from La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso, to address some of the issues facing children and youth who call Nellie’s home. The Childcare Program will provide children and youth with valuable, age appropriate content to enable healing through art, play and reflection, with the ultimate aim of helping them understand their feelings of fear, confusion, guilt, anger and frustration and provide them with the coping strategies to move forward.
The program aims to:
- Provide children and youth will have opportunities to learn, play and reflect in ways that are age and content appropriate
- Children and youth will develop and enhance their connection with ‘community’ and a fellowship with other young people living at Nellie’s
- Aid participants in developing and working towards goals, independently and with others
- Introduce children and youth to creative methods of storytelling, creation and participation in designing the space they live in.
