The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation presented a $1,500 grant to the Edgewood Center for Children and Families at Monday’s Menlo Park/Atherton District meeting. John Tripp, 2012 president of the Charitable Foundation, presented the check to Jamilla McCallum, kinship program director of the San Carlos center.

Edgewood Center for Children and Families helps children and families take back their future by working with them to overcome severe challenges like abuse, neglect, mental illness and crisis. The center is the oldest children’s charity in the western U.S., and began as a refuge for Gold Rush orphans. Edgewood now serves more than 5,000 children and families in the Bay Area each year, offering a broad range of behavioral health, family support, and educational services.

McCallum explained the center’s kinship program helps relatives of those who need help, she explained. Family members often step up to fill the gap when a crisis situation takes parents from a child. These “kinship caregivers” often have special needs themselves, linked to age, poverty, poor health, social isolation, and inadequate access to information and services. The Edgewood Kinship Program addresses the unique needs of each caregiver and child by providing referrals to basic services and a break from daily stresses.

Tripp thanked SILVAR members for their support of the Charitable Foundation. He urged members to continue giving to the Foundation. The Charitable Foundation grants support three main causes: families, youth and housing. He noted these grants would not be possible without the help and support from SILVAR members.

 

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