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Pastoral Response Assistance Team, Inc. |
The Shoe
Project
The Pastoral
Response Assistance Team is a multidisciplinary team that over the past ten
years has utilized a number of people from the juvenile court system. These
individuals utilized their backgrounds in social and family systems child
abuse, sexual abuse, the law and other areas brought them to the problem of
sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and later to other religious and secular
institutions.
Most of our Team,
while continuing their work with PRAT, remain committed to the work with
juveniles who are before the court as the result of abuse or neglect, problems
within the family, or other reasons.
A core element to
working with any child in the system is to be able to stand in their shoes. Not only to see and empathize, to protect
and help, or develop the services that will enable them to grown and develop,
but to try and provide the concrete things that may help them on the road to a
good life, and to cultivate interests that will sustain them through difficult
times.
We have already
teemed with Donor-Charity Match Tool. We have already
received several well timed donations
* computers for children
with interests in writing or succeeding in school
* a bed so that a
child could live with a grandparent
* money for bus
tickets so that a boy could have a visit from his mother and sister.
What resources are we looking for ?
-durable toys
(including blocks, legos, )
-furniture
-phone cards
-party supplies
-gift cards/certificates
for clothes, pizza, hamburgers, movies
-web cams- so that
siblings can see each other if even through the internet
-tickets/admission
to museums and events that are appropriate for children to spend time with
their parents or siblings
-musical
instruments / music lessons
-art supplies/ art
lessons
We also try to
raise funds that will aide in providing transportation and funds to support
extended sibling visitation, including accommodations. We are also looking to
meet unanticipated needs. To that end donations of bulk materials that can be
sold at fairs or new items that
can be used in sales or raffles
would be welcomed.
Let no child be demeaned, nor have his wonder
diminished
because of our ignorance or inactivity.
Let no child be deprived of discovery, because we lack the resources to discover
his problem. Let no child ever doubt himself or his mind because we
are unsure of our commitment….
Links
Commonwealth 5
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/commonwealth5/index.html
Fostering the Arts
http://www.fosteringthearts.org/
Our Shoe Project Logo from the kindness of
Lewis Goldstein