December 24, 2013

First of all, Merry Christmas Eve and Happy Holidays to all of my viewers!  Last Friday, I visited a Brownie Girl Scout troop and presented my project to them.  I taught them about Safe Haven and how it "helps mommies who are in trouble" (Brownies are in elementary school so it had to be in simple terms) and played games with them.  I worked on crafts with them, which included each girl making a Quilt Square and a Binder Sheet.  The squares will be put into a "Quilt of Hope" which will be hung in a local Safe House to serve as a bit of inspiration and, well, hope to the mothers who stay there!  The sheets are basically a scrapbook page that is full of things that the girls enjoy, what makes them happy, and various "positive words" and phrases.  The purpose of this is to put this into one big binder that will be at the Safe House so that the mothers can look through it and have something to make them smile because these girls were able to find things that make them smile too.

I will keep you all updated with any new things!

Happy Holidays!

My first troop meeting

On 11/18, I met with my first troop (ended up being two!) and it went well!  We started with a round of Bingo and then discussed Safe Haven and basically what the foundation is and does.  So we did a few other activities, one of which was having the girls get into pairs and perform skits!  They allowed the other girls to demonstrate their knowledge and see what they could do if they ended up in the position of a woman who was pregnant and could not keep the baby.  I look forward to meeting with all of the future troops and that is it for now!

I just finished a "Scavenger Hunt" that I will be doing with the Girl Scout troops that I will be visiting!  Give it a shot:

Here is a blank copy

Here are the answers

11/10/13

Right now, I am working on a patch program that is going to begin to be piloted very soon!  This is exciting news because it will become possible for young people to learn about Safe Haven and the wonderful things that it can do.  My major goal with this is to raise awareness of the foundation because I want women to know that they DO have another option:  relinquishment.  If you are pregnant and cannot keep your baby but do not want people to be able to find out that you had a child, you can safely relinquish your child at a "Safe Place" where no questions will be asked.  To me, this is a fantastic thing because many young people do not know what options are out there for them and this truly does save many lives.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below!

Project Update

At the moment, I am currently working on making Brochures to put at clinics about my project and what Safe Haven does.
Also, I am working on making a teen advisory board so if anyone would like to help with that, please please please contact me!
Another thing I am working on is making a patch program that will educate all age-levels of children so that a small child will know that the sign means that it's a place where "Mommy's in distress can go if they do not now what to do" all the way to a teenage girl who does not have the means to support her baby knowing that she can relinquish her baby without any questions asked.

Feel free to comment with questions!

Safe Haven Wing Cook-off

This weekend, I attended the cook-off for wings at a local venue and displayed my board.  I was able to talk to several families about my project and what I intend to do.  Want to get involved? Contact me by leaving a comment and I will let you know how I can use your help!

Need Something To Do With Children?

Well here's a word search and a maze!

Village Street Fair

Recently, my town had a street fair in which I displayed my project.  Here are some pictures!

This picture is with an Assemblyman Saladino

Pregnant and Don't Know What To Do?

Don't panic, just contact either me or visit the official Safe Haven site here.

In case you don't know, the Safe Haven Foundation has been operating for over 10 years and has saved hundreds of babies.

If you just gave birth or are about to, you can take advantage of the Safe Haven Going Yellow Program (piloted in New York, USA, so please be patient if it is not at your location yet) and get transportation to the nearest hospital.

Or if you are pregnant and do not have a place to live, you can come live at a "Safe House" which basically allows you to live on your own, free of rent.

So what are my plans for my project?

Well, I have a few ideas in motion:

• Creating a blog
• Creating a brochure to put in clinics
• Raising awareness

• Creating a “Safe Haven Service Day”

Have a question on any of these? Feel free to ask a question here!

Any Questions?

I cannot seem to figure out how to make an ask box on here, so for now, you can ask anything on my account here on ask.fm and feel free to ask anonymously!

Do you have an emergency?

The hotline number is 1-877-796-HOPE (1-877-796-4673)

Please call this number before you make a decision that you may regret for the rest of your life.

Safe Haven Going Yellow

Recently, the Children of Hope Foundation has launched a new program, Safe Haven Going Yellow.  It takes advantage of the taxi signage campaign and this means that we are putting a 6”x 6” logo on all taxi cabs, identifying them as a mode of transportation to any Safe Haven location for pregnant mothers or mothers in distress.  Below is an image of the sticker on the taxis that identifies them as such.  

A Sign to Know

You may have seen this logo while driving around and wondered what it means.  What this sign means is that you are approaching a designated area that is marked as a "Safe Location" which means that you can give up your newborn confidentially here and it will be given to an adoption agency. You will know that you are at the right place when you see this sign on the building itself.  The below sign is also inside the building

(note that the linked site is NOT the official site of Children of Hope Foundation) 

A Bit About Me

Hi there, this is Gina and I am a Girl Scout working on my Gold Award with the Children of Hope Safe Haven foundation.  What this foundation does is help young women who are either about to give birth or just gave birth who are in distress.  Oftentimes, these women cannot keep their babies due to various circumstances, but what Safe Haven does is take in these babies (timespan varies by state so check your state here) confidentially and follows through the adoptive process.

One of the major components of my project is this blog.  On this blog will soon be various links to a FAQ section, what to do if you are pregnant and do not know what to do, and an ask box.

Please be patient!
Gina