Child Crisis Arizona, which aims to strengthen families and provide a shelter for abused children and teens, has been awarded $1 million by The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.
The donation will support the nonprofit’s operations and help fund its Center for Child & Family Wellness at 424 W. Rio Salado Pkwy., Mesa.
Scheduled to be open next year, the 38,000-square-foot, climate-friendly, net-zero campus will expand Child Crisis Arizona’s ability to serve more people and offer health, wellness, and educational opportunities to the community.
“Since 2015, Child Crisis Arizona has more than doubled in size and scope of services, experiencing unprecedented growth in our early education services, which increased by 200%, and our shelter bed capacity, which increased by 177%,” said Torrie Taj, CEO of Child Crisis Arizona.
“While this growth has drastically increased the number of children and families we serve, it has caused staff members and entire departments to become displaced and dispersed throughout the Valley to make space for additional classrooms and shelter beds as needed.”
According to Taj, the Center for Child & Family Wellness will centralize Child Crisis Arizona operations and become the new home to services for low-income children and families.
Those include foster care and adoption services, family education, children’s counseling, health and wellness programs such as medical screenings, a centralized kitchen and food distribution, centralized administration and philanthropy; foster teen programs, various performing and creative arts therapies and volunteer and staff training.
“It will also allow for strategic collaborations with such organizations as Ballet Arizona, United Food Bank, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona,” a spokeswoman said.
“Child Crisis Arizona is often the go-to resource provider for children and families in need,” said Bob Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.
“Their new state-of-the-art campus will continue to improve how we take care of vulnerable children and families, offering hope and support when families need it most,” he added.
The new building will have a Counseling Support Center with four sensory and play therapy rooms as well as a foster/adoption win to offer foster and adoptive families “realistic training and ongoing support to prepare them for placement of children of all ages and backgrounds,” the spokeswoman said.
A donation center and a volunteer center also will be provided and the center will have a car seat safety station where parents can learn proper car seat installation. Free car seats also may be available to needy parents.
Additional spaces include a children’s playroom, community partner hub, technology center, job skills center, and innovation space.
“Child Crisis Arizona has worked tirelessly to ensure that children and families who are economically disadvantaged, are experiencing homelessness, the foster care system or other such challenges can be safe and well cared for,” said Renee Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.
“Their new campus will not only allow them to continue making a positive impact on our community, but also increase that impact.”
The two-story campus is expected to be completed next year.
“We look forward to honoring the long-standing relationship with and support from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation by dedicating the lobby in the Center for Child & Family Wellness in their name upon opening in 2024,” said Taj.
The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation was founded in 2012 by Scottsdale philanthropists and business leaders Bob and Renee Parsons to provide hope and life-changing assistance to the country’s most vulnerable populations,
Information: TBRPF.org.
For more than 45 years, Child Crisis Arizona has served the Valley’s vulnerable children and families and is committed to preventing child abuse and neglect through education and intervention. Since 1977, it has positively impacted nearly 100,000 children and families through its motto of “Safe Kids. Strong Families.”
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