Fund Opportunities
Management of Funds
Funds at Alexander Children’s Foundation
The Alexander Children’s Foundation manages the endowment among other funds for Alexander Youth Network and it’s affiliated organizations. For more information please reach out to Lynn Crutchfield, President of Alexander Children’s Foundation.
The following are restricted funds managed by the Foundation. Gifts can be made to any of the funds below or for unrestricted use.
Endowment
Edward Turner Garsed’s vision of hope for special needs children began in small ways. He invited children from the Alexander Home to July Fourth picnics at his dairy farm in southeast Mecklenburg County. He provided milk and butter for their dining tables. He took the children to the circus and bought them peanuts and balloons.
Prior to his death in 1947, Garsed donated his entire 466-acre dairy farm to Alexander and created the Garsed Trust to provide an endowment for future operating income. Alexander’s main offices and residential campus are today located on a portion of the Garsed farm, and the Garsed Trust continues to provide financial assistance to aid in the agency’s mission and to realize Garsed’s dream of hope for the future of the troubled children we serve.
We invite those that share in Edward Garsed’s vision of hope to join the Garsed Legacy Society by including Alexander in your will, trust, or other estate plans. For information on making a planned gift, contact Lynn Crutchfield.
Glen Pehl Trauma Informed Fund
Alexander is one of only 8 programs nationally to use a truly trauma-informed approach to treating children with severe emotional and behavioral challenges. This program involves an individualized assessment and treatment plan that is specifically geared to treating children who have been victims of chronic abuse, neglect, or trauma. Treatment includes repetitive, rhythmic activities such as bicycling, drumming, and swimming that complement talk therapy to help our children find long-term coping strategies needed for success within a community setting. Although many of these interventions may appear to be simple play, when provided in the context of healthy relationships and professionally trained staff, they have been proven to promote brain development and ultimately help the children we treat find long-term healing. The trauma-informed fund helps provide the resources necessary to deliver the highest level of care to the children of Alexander across all of its programs
Foster Care Critical Needs Fund
Not every child has emotional problems…but the ones that do need an extremely high level of care. The Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) Program at Alexander Youth Network provides homes for children and adolescents who need treatment for mental health issues, trauma-based behaviors, or severe emotional disturbances. This service helps ensure that children in our care continue to have access to the Alexander treatments and protocol within a home setting, and also allows them to maintain the relationships and trust built with our professionals over time.
Foster care parents change the future, one child at a time. But being a foster parent is extremely demanding, particularly for a program like TFC that requires extensive training and an endless supply of patience. The Foster Care Critical Needs Fund provides the resources necessary to ease the heavy financial burden placed on our therapeutic foster parents when they encounter a setback. Broken windows, holes in walls, frequent lengthy trips to therapy are just a few examples of the everyday obstacles faced by these families. This fund would provide immediate crisis intervention for these generous individuals who have opened their homes to some of the most difficult situations.
Pro-Social Activities Fund
The children who come to Alexander are often labeled as “bad kids.” Too frequently, the adults in their lives interpret their inappropriate behaviors as a window into their flawed personalities, rather than an indication of an underlying mental health issue. As a result, many of these children regularly receive punitive measures that restrict them from field trips, playground activities and other extra-curricular sports or programs. Sadly, the kids who most desperately need other outlets for their intense emotions often have the fewest opportunities to do so.
At Alexander, we don’t believe that there are “bad kids,” only bad behavior. Our goal is to get kids back to the business of being kids. The Pro-Social Activities Fund provides resources for our children to experience the kinds of recreational classes and outings that all kids benefit from, such as a trip to a water park, horseback riding, or access to a YMCA facility. These experiences do more than just enhance a kid’s life, they give our children the chance to put their self-regulation skills to the test in a real-life environment and to develop constructive hobbies and skills that can redirect negative behaviors and feelings.
Scholarship Fund
Many of the children we serve at Alexander have never had enough. Not enough food, shelter, safety, and love. We believe that every child in North Carolina who needs behavioral health treatment should receive high-quality services without stigma or barriers to access. An inability to afford the care we provide should not serve as yet another barrier to treatment. Insurance never covers the full cost of residential care, and for many families, finding proper treatment is fiscally impossible. The Scholarship Fund at Alexander provides critical access for children who would otherwise be unable to receive a high level of care we provide.
Staff Development Fund
At Alexander, we offer the full continuum of care for children struggling with a mental health diagnosis. We see how Alexander’s involvement in a child’s life can often keep families intact, allow a child to stay in school, or help them learn to thrive in a community setting. A key component to our success is our utilization of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics in all we do, which requires extensive costly training. We are consistently challenged to secure the resources necessary to provide ongoing professional development for our staff. The Staff Development Fund allows Alexander to invest additional resources in the people at the heart of this organization – their ongoing dedication is the foundation upon which healing happens.
