An organization dedicated to the betterment of children, youth and families in Wellington North.  Every day we face families in various levels of need for practical, personal and immediate help to meet the needs of all ages of children and youth. There is a growing need in school age group to support school achievement, school behaviour and school attendance.   Schools are overwhelmed with responsibility for more than academic results.  Unrecognized   learning problems or skill deficits usually result in avoidance and behaviour problems which increase and peak by grade 7 or 8 and then escalate into truancy and risky behaviour in grade 9. There is an increase in medically diagnosed conditions that inhibit learning. Wellington North is identified as high risk for alcohol and drug use, domestic violence, vandalism and petty crime.

New Growth Family Centre Inc. is a non profit charitable organization #85171 9542 RR0001 that now needs your help. We have taken the first steps and we need people like you who have caught the vision to join with us by giving financial support to local children.  There are children absent from school because they refuse to attend or because their behaviour cannot be managed in a school setting . They are sent home or formally Suspended from school attendance due to severe behaviour.  Some are being placed in residential care facilities away from their families. None of these measures address the root problems and they often put the family into crisis. Our goal is to address the root problems before these steps are taken and a family is broken apart.

Our community is seeing more wandering groups of children and youth, including some as young as 5. They are watching and participating in petty crime and delinquent behaviour in their formative years---- the years that set   standards for their lives.  They are developing habits based on the people around them as they should, but they are learning from other children and youth in the same situation and not from stable, loving adults. We are now seeing very young children acting out in ways that we saw  years ago in delinquent teens.  These children, added to a regular classroom setting, easily overwhelm any teacher with 25 or more students and affect the whole school climate .

 New Growth Family Centre’s Respite Day Program provides a Therapeutic Learning Environment for children and youth with extreme needs in the school age group  who are functioning well below their physical  age emotionally and mentally . In a regular classroom, their presence alone interferes with the learning of other children and because of their skill deficits, they are unable to learn effectively within a group of children their own age.  These are often children with medically diagnosed conditions such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD),  Asperger’s Syndrome,  Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), Anxiety Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD)  and includes  fostered or adopted children  suffering from Trauma  and Attachment Disorder directly related to neglect and abuse in early life. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND)  are being recognized in growing numbers.

These are all children who cannot learn easily and who seek ways to avoid and escape from learning environments.  They shut down or get angry or drift away to seek out the most available path to feel better in the moment. These are the most vulnerable in early life who then become the angry youth wandering on the street and  very often become youth parents themselves....if their childhood needs are not addressed effectively.  Many of these emotionally young parents have been identified with childhood conditions and learning deficits which develop into relationship and social problems, work related and financial problems, substance abuse and finally result in mental health conditions   in adulthood.  The situation now affects a whole new family, especially the next generation of very vulnerable children. The cycle continues and increases exponentially if early intervention is not provided.

New Growth Family Centre has taken the steps to make a positive difference in the lives of children, youth and families.  Many of our families  do not have sufficient financial resources to pay for private programs to help their child. Insurance plans cover mental health conditions in adults but not for prevention and treatment plans for children and youth. Many of our families are foster parents and placement agencies which are now facing cutbacks.  They require and expect publicly funded schools to supervise, manage and educate their extreme needs children in academically focused classrooms.  Special education in schools  is being reduced and cut back. Some of our parents have consulted specialists in medicine and psychology and psychiatry and have a diagnosis to explain the condition but there are few options to place the child for the first stage of treatment.  NGFC provides such a placement---a Therapeutic Learning Environment which addresses emotional needs equally with school skills right here in our community. The first goal is to  stabilize the child in the safe structured learning environment, then assess specific needs accurately and begin to  fill in the developmental gaps to equip the child to progress toward attending and participating in an appropriate school program within their own community. Our Treatment Plan for the child also involves  transferring the successful strategies into the home to help the whole family.
Presently we are providing support for 30+ students.  There are more students being referred who require a placement but have no funding available to them.   Up to now, we have never turned away a child or a family in need of our help.  We have always provided for the neediest at reduced cost.  We welcome and appreciate donations of any amount to be applied directly to our child and youth programs. Our goal is to be able to offer services directly to families without the delays which often lead to further escalation of the behaviour problems in the home, in the schools and in the community. In other words, to get the interventions in place as soon as possible.

In today's world it takes an  involved community like ours to raise a healthy successful child .

Together we can do it right here in Wellington North!

This letter is meant to open your eyes to the severe needs right here in our own community and to motivate you to take action in any of the following ways:

***  Contact us for more information and to visit us and learn more about our programs                 
***  Contact us to speak to your organization or business associates.                                                       ***   Make a tax deductible donation of any amount to provide for a child, youth or family .
***   Share this letter with others who have a concern and a heart for children and youth by  making   
          making  tax deductible donation of any amount                                                                                    ***   Share our information with families struggling with parenting problems, school-related issues or      behaviour issues with their children and youth.

Aletha  McArthur is the Program Director,  Teacher  Specialist and Founder of New Growth Family Centre Inc. in Mount Forest, Ontario. She is a teacher from the heart and has demonstrated her compassion and expertise working as a Special Education and Behavior Specialist in schools in Wellington-Dufferin for more than 25+ years.  She successfully utilizes the Post Stress Model   principles in her Therapeutic Day Program classroom for extreme needs children and youth and in her Coaching Programs for parents, caregivers and educators. She confidently delivers her own unique   balance of firm yet caring educational strategies in a Therapeutic Learning Environment that is safe, structured and supportive. She believes that early intervention is the key to meeting the needs of children with complex trauma and related challenges. She is dedicated to ensuring that all children, especially those who have experienced early trauma, and their families, get the support they need to enjoy learning and reach their full potential.       

                                                                                  Find out more at www.newgrowthfamilycentre.com

                                                                                  Regards from   Aletha McArthur