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March 2008 - Volunteers Update Playroom at Family Shelter

VOLUNTEERS UPDATE PLAY ROOM AT FAMILY SHELTER TO HELP REDUCE THE IMPACT OF HOMELESSNESS ON CHILDREN

Staff and volunteers recognize the importance of play for all children, especially those facing the overwhelming challenges of homelessness

EVERETT, Washington (March 2008) — The challenges facing homeless children are immense, and for many concerned citizens it’s hard to know how to help. Homeless children need food. They need shelter. They need health care, education and counseling services. But there’s one basic need that often goes overlooked: the need to play.

It was that essential need a group of volunteers hoped to address recently by renovating the children’s play room at The Interfaith Family Shelter in Everett, Washington.

“It was like Extreme Makeover,” says Dianne Riter, a volunteer who coordinated the play room overhaul. “We went in there and renovated everything in the room.” The team of 12 volunteers painted, updated the décor and added a variety of toys and activities, including an elaborate puppet theater and other age appropriate toys donated by Riter’s sister, Marianne Cursetjee.

“This seemed like the perfect opportunity to provide a few items that would make a huge difference for kids at a crisis point in their lives,” says Cursetjee, an online retailer of early childhood education toys (BabyClassroom.com) and science toys and kits (DiscoverThis.com). She hopes the theater will allow children at the shelter to express their feelings and process difficult experiences through imaginative play. Most of all, though, she hopes they’ll have fun with it!

Families with children are among the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, according to the National Center on Family Homelessness, and most children living with homeless parents are very young. (42 percent are under 6 years old.) But with so many other challenges facing them every day, is play really that important? Absolutely! According to a clinical report published in the January 2007 issue of Pediatrics, “Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.”

“Play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child,” the report later adds.

While the spirit was all fun and games at the unveiling of the renovated play room, the volunteers know their work is making a serious difference. “A safe, friendly environment can be a first step in homeless families getting back on their feet,” says Cursetjee. “It's gratifying to be able to support that in any way we can.”

"The kids are loving their new playroom", added Morgan Webb, Shelter Coordinator. "We're getting an incredible amount of use of the puppet house. It has been a blast!"

About Interfaith Family Shelter: The Interfaith Association of Northern Washington has operated a homeless family shelter since 1991, providing emergency housing for up to 120 days as well as a comprehensive program of counseling which includes connection to resources for job training, mental health treatment, drug counseling, violence prevention, legal advocacy, and children's educational and developmental services. The Interfaith Family Shelter is the only shelter in Snohomish County available to families with male teenagers or single fathers and served as a demonstration site for a three-year “One Childhood Lasts a Lifetime” study focusing on reducing the impact of homelessness on children.

About Discover This: DiscoverThis.com is a woman-owned business providing quality educational products at affordable prices. As a parent, owner Marianne Cursetjee continually seeks out the most engaging, entertaining and educational science toys and kits for children of all ages, including many that have won awards from science and parenting organizations. Cursetjee is committed to making a difference in the world not only by encouraging children to enjoy scientific discovery but by supporting educational organizations including the Clackamas County Library, SMART (Start Making A Reader Today), and others. Her personal values shine through in the promises she makes to customers, most notably that she won't sell toys that promote violence and she won't sell toys she wouldn't buy for her own children!

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