The $100,000 Leveraged Grant provides valuable funds toward completion
of the organization’s clinical care program.

(Sarasota, FL) All Star Children’s Foundation will be
able to treat many more children in the tri-county area who are suffering from
trauma thanks to the $100,000 Leveraged Grant recently issued by the Gulf Coast
Community Foundation. The funds will be directed to support development,
implementation and evaluation of therapeutic interventions for children who
have experienced abuse or neglect.

Lucia Branton,
All Star’s chief executive officer, explains that the grant will provide the
opportunity for All Star to treat more children who have been referred to the
organization and qualifies for its trauma-focused services. “Since opening our
outpatient services in April 2019, we’ve received more than 150 referrals,”
says Branton. “Due to the overwhelming need for trauma services, we have
quickly developed a waiting list of children.” She adds that the funds will
allow the organization to “hire the additional clinicians to serve children on
our waiting list.” All Star’s clinical department currently includes three clinicians
trained in evidence-based trauma treatment models, with a fourth starting later
this month, and the clinical director.

“After working
with our specially trained therapists, children and their caregivers are
feeling safe and empowered to open up about their feelings and how to work
through them,” says Branton. “It takes a level of trust for this to happen, but
it’s a critical component of what All Star is based on—trauma therapy and
creating a psychologically safe environment that will foster healing.”

Graci McGillicuddy, the co-founder and board chair of
All Star, says that the importance of these interventions cannot be underestimated.

“Adverse childhood experiences are a major public
health threat,” she says. “According to latest brain research, untreated early
childhood trauma can have a lifetime impact. The good news is that early
treatment gives children affected by childhood trauma a chance to grow up into
well-adjusted, high-functioning adults. We are very grateful to the Gulf Coast
Community Foundation for its ongoing support of All Star’s mission.”

All Star has nearly completed its “Campus of Hope and
Healing,” which includes the All Star Children’s Center, where trauma-focused
clinical services are offered. The campus also features six foster family homes
that provide abused children, ages 0-18, with a nurturing, family-style home
environment and comprehensive, trauma-sensitive treatment. Siblings will be
kept together, and parents and caregivers will also be offered a range of
innovative services. All Star also serves children in the region’s child
welfare system and their families on an outpatient basis. Clinicians began
seeing clients at the All Star Children’s Center earlier this month.

According to McGillicuddy,
All Star has implemented an unprecedented, trauma-informed program that
delivers the latest evidence-based protocols and treatments for foster children
and their biological families. Partnering with leaders across the child welfare
system, the non-profit organization has tapped best-in-class partners to assist
in their mission. Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (JHACH) is providing
critical program development consultation, as well as serving as the lead
research entity.