Dear Family Tree Stakeholders,

Estimados participantes de Family Tree,

Daniella never anticipated where her life was headed when she bought roundtrip tickets to California from Italy five years ago. She planned a three-month trip to be with her partner, but quickly discovered she was pregnant. The couple eloped and shortly after Daniella began noticing signs of hostility and control in her husband.

For those who don’t already know, February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month! Family Tree is working toward ending the cycle of violence in teen dating by talking directly with youth in our community. Advocates from Family Tree’s Domestic Violence Outreach Program work closely with Jefferson County schools and students to help promote a safe school culture.

Immigration legislation changes have received attention from people of all ethnicities, races and backgrounds. Many Family Tree clients have become more cautious about sharing personal information, regardless of their immigration status. This uncertainty around recent legislation and its impacts might make families and individuals more hesitant to disclose personal details.

The Family Tree SafeCare® team noticed this impact on the enrollment in their program and decided to do something about this trend.

It can be incredibly difficult and frustrating to know someone you love is experiencing abuse and it can be even harder to feel helpless trying to support them. February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month and Family Tree would like to provide ways you can help or support a teen you know that is experiencing dating violence.

Lani, a single mother, lives with her two sons, Mark, 22, and Jason, 16, and provides informal home hospice care for her terminally-ill brother, Paul. Both sons struggle with substance abuse, depression and anxiety as well as making progress academically or maintaining a job. Jason made poor choices that led him to court and the family was referred to Family Tree Community Family Resource Team (CFRT) due to concerns of child neglect of Jason.

We can readily admit to a housing crisis that is ever more apparent in our community, our state and our nation as a whole. So what are we doing about it? Does everyone count?

The longer I am employed at Family Tree, the more I appreciate the value of an integrated services approach to serving our clients. It’s wonderful to offer help in one area, but it’s even better to be able to address multiple areas of need without sending clients to several different agencies. Collaboration among the programs at Family Tree results in a more client-centered, trauma-informed model of service.