KELLYS KIDS INC
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : k***********p@y***o.c*m
Mission Statement
KELLYS KIDS INC. is an animal therapy program using farm animals as a tool to work with at- risk youth . Our clientele have been abused and or neglected in their lives. We work with the youth to build their self esteem, deal with the abuse and neglect that they have endured, learn empathy and sympathy. One of the youth was in a terrible leaving situation and had to be removed at the age of nine. On the farm a baby goat was born and the mother did not want to care for it. This nine year old boy was asked to hold the goat and at first he was reluctant. He had eyes with no emotion because of the life he was living. When he held the goat it was crying and he didn't know what to do. He realized that if he cuddled and loved it , it would stop crying.I explained to him that the goat wanted it's mom but that it would be ok because we could take care of it. He looked at me and said he knew exactly how that goat felt and that he would be fine just like the goat. The innocence of children and the power of animals.
About This Cause
KELLYS KIDS INC was established in September 2014. Kelly Cronin developed the agency after the passing of her Mother and losing her job at the same time after 32 years being the Executive Director at the largest youth service Bureau in the State of Ct. I grew the agency in that time frame from $100000 to $2.6 Million. I took my mom to the doctors on a Monday afternoon at 3 o'clock o'clock my board and was told she had terminal cancer, and then at 5 o'clock my board said that they were not going to renew my contract. When I asked why they said they wanted someone to run the agency with their head and not their heart. That's when I decided to establish my own non profit as I was approaching 60 years old and couldn't see my self working for someone else. I already created a LLC called Farm on Wheels which is a traveling petting zoo bringing farm animals to birthday parties ,convalescent homes, nursery schools and more. I have a passion for animals , children and the elderly so I created KELLYS KIDS INC. which is an animal therapy program using farm animals as a tool to work with at risk youth and the elderly in the State of Ct. The agency receives most referrals from the Department of Children and Families because the youth have been abused or neglected.The youth attend after school programs, summer camp, respite care, life skills training and more. The setting is farm based where they interact with the animals, clean barns,grow vegetables in the greenhouse, play in the stream, go fishing, dig worms, walk the nature trails and just have fun being a kid on a farm. Our motto is 'Come clean and rested leave dirty and tired". Since the inception of the agency over 300 youth and families have benefited from this unique experience. We work with them on their school work, but more importantly their self confidence, self worth and self esteem. We use the 40 Developmental Asset framework as the model and all participants take a pre and post test. The outcomes have been very positive with each participant gaining more assets while in the program. We have also established a intergenerational program where the youth ,older adults and the animals spend time together sharing stories and building confidence while interacting with positive role models. The summer camp has been extremely successful as the youth that participate do not do well in regular camp settings and excel in this program because of the uniqueness that it offers. We have been getting referrals on youth that have been thrown out of programs because of their behavior. Last summer at the camp we had 22 campers with serious behavior issues and we did not have one major issue with any of them. Our staff ratio is high compared to other camps but because of the issues that these youth have it is needed. Our funding sources right now are grants from United Ways, fundraising, grant writing, State Department of Children and Families and individual donors. We have grown every year since the agency was established and foresee the agency getting bigger as the need is steadily growing for at risk youth.