Archived Stories - 2023
December 19, 2023: New Online Drive, More Sponsors Make it a Bright Christmas for Children in Foster Care
A boisterous “Yahoo!” rang out from behind a makeshift desk full to brimming with toys, packages and stacks of paperwork. The 2023 Making Christmas Bright/Guardians for New Futures Angel Program had just reached >
November 2, 2023: No Tricks, All Treats Thanks to Community Generosity
There were no tricks this Halloween season for local kinship caregivers – just a friendly knock on the door and a bag of treats. This week, CCKids’ kinship navigators distributed 22 bags of >
November 2, 2023: Martin County Manager Represents CCKids During Special DC Visit
Martin County Manager Denise Natalizio recently participated in critical advocacy training provided by Social Current, the accreditation body formerly known as COA. The training - called SPARK 2023 - was hosted in >
November 2, 2023: Four Families, Seven Children, One Amazing Success Story
Large sibling groups are tough for the child-welfare community. They get split up. There aren't enough homes willing to keep them together. Separation often means disconnection. But not always. Sometimes, >
October 18, 2023: Three Years In, CarePortal Holds Door Open to New Opportunities
CarePortal, a wish-request system supported by a network of local churches, has been fully implemented in Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast for three years and is proving itself an effective tool for those working directly with families in the dependency system. In fact, dependency case managers and protective investigators who use CarePortal give the tool a nearly >
October 4, 2023: CCKids Rolls Out Online Toy Drive for 23rd Anniversary of Making Christmas Bright
Just because you do something for decades, doesn't mean you can't do it better. For that reason, CCKids is rolling out an online component to mark the 23rd anniversary of its Making Christmas Bright holiday collection. "We thought, 'How can we make an already successful project even better,'" said Christmas Kaiser, CCKids community relations director. "The answer was pretty obvious - let's go >
September 20, 2023: CCKids Receives Critical Funding
The money is in the bank! CCKids this week received its much-awaited allotment of funding from the Florida Department of Children and Families' Risk Pool, a store of money reserved for emergencies within the state's network of local child-welfare communities. "We received >
September 6, 2023: School's Back in Session, and that Means One Thing: Christmas!
Communities Connected for Kids is looking for sponsors for this year's holiday collection, a joint project of the local foster-care community and Guardians for New Futures. Guardians for New Futures is a nonprofit organization that helps meet the >
August 23, 2023: CCKids Adds Two More GEMS to It's Caregiver Crown
When other doors close, Rebecca Lurie's opens. Lurie, a CCKids foster parent, reliably takes in children who have been declined by other providers or who may have been without a placement. For that reason, she was one of two local caregivers recently honored with >
August 9, 2023: More Children Coming Into Care Builds Pressure for System
Communities Connected for Kids' 2023 State of Our Children - an annual report created to give the community a general overview of the local child-welfare system - is revealing some post-pandemic growing pains. The number of children entering care during the past 12 months increased by >
July 20, 2023: Community Sends Kids Back to School with a Little More Supplies, a Lot More Dignity
Close your eyes, and imagine that first day of Kindergarten. You probably have new shoes on your feet, a new outfit; maybe newly trimmed bangs. You have a bag lunch in your hands or change in your pocket. And you can smell the graphite and wood shavings from your brand new, never-before-used, No. 2 pencil. It's a visceral memory tied and twisted >
July 6, 2023: Even in Fun, Foster Parents Show They Don't Give Up When the Storm Comes
Children frolicking about in the water features of Stuart’s Sailfish Splash barely noticed the rain Saturday. Some even thought it added to the fun. “We’re getting wet anyway,” said one youngster, playing water tag and trying to miss the >
July 6, 2023: Summer Just Started. That Means it's Back to School Time for CCKids!
CCKids is hosting a school supplies drive for children throughout Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast - the first such drive the local dependency system has undertaken in more than a decade. If your business or group would like to adopt a number of children and collect >
May 31, 2023: Story Stroll Draws Crowd to Raise Awareness for Foster Care
More than 100 people attended CCKids’ Third Annual 1K for Kids and Story Stroll Saturday, marking a turning point for the foster care awareness event. Past events, hosted since 2021 at Port St. Lucie’s Hillmoor Lake Park, have drawn fewer than 50 participants. “I don’t know if it was the merchandise, better outreach or just more people getting out after the pandemic, but we saw a nearly >
May 3, 2023: Foster Family Appreciation
May is #NationalFosterCareMonth, and we're celebrating our caregivers by sharing their Why - the reason they do what they do, and the reason they think >
April 19, 2023: CCKids Honors its Essential Helpers During Volunteer Appreciation Month
More than 50 people attended CCKids' 2023 Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast earlier this month, marking the first time in several years that the organization has hosted the event. "We were so excited to bring >
April 19, 2023: Shirts, Chance to Win for Those Who Register
Registration for this year's 1K for Kids & Story Stroll - a community celebration of National Foster Care Month - is now open. The first 100 people to register will get free >
April 5, 2023: Register for 1K For Kids & Story Stroll - and Get a Free Shirt!
Registration is now open for CCKids' 1K For Kids & Story Stroll, scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon, May 20, in celebration of National Foster Care Month. The first 100 people to register will get a >
March 23, 2023: Foster Mom Keeps Families Engaged with Their Children While in Foster Care
Foster parent Ilena Hones is committed to helping families stay connected while their children are in foster care. It’s an important practice in the child-welfare community called co-parenting, and Hones excels at it by keeping >
March 3, 2023: CCKids Faces Hard Times, But We're Up for the Challenge
For the first time since CCKids began serving the community, we are facing a financial deficit. This deficit has absolutely nothing to do with our performance or our financial stewardship. In fact, CCKids is the state's >
January 25, 2023: Prevention Program Demonstrates Potential to Keep Kids Out of Foster Care, Detention
Communities Connected for Kids made several improvements to its system in 2022 that have the potential to keep children out of foster care. Among services with the most potential is >
January 25, 2023: CCKids Releases 2022 Annual Report
CCKids' released its 2022 Annual Report earlier this week, providing a peek into the system of care's performance during the last 12 months.The report, which can be accessed by clicking here, includes financial overviews by >
January 11, 2023: CCKids Names First GEMs of 2023
Communities Connected for Kids congratulates Ronnisha Hall and Doreen Hernandez for winning this quarter’s Going the Extra Mile – or GEM – Award. Hall and Hernandez won the award, an honor given to staff and caregivers for excellence in service to children and families in >
