Child Crisis Arizona, with 43 years’ experience in Emergency Children’s Shelter services, is pleased to announce the receipt of a $150,000 grant from Thunderbirds Charities. This award, to support the agency’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, will be used to keep children receiving care in the Emergency Children’s Shelter, healthy and safe. The children residing in the Emergency Children’s Shelter are cared for 24/7. The agency has continued uninterrupted services throughout the pandemic. With the advent of COVID-19, Child Crisis Arizona immediately took additional precautions to ensure the health and safety of the children in the shelter program. Steps included scheduling additional qualified staff to supervise smaller groups of children and maintain social distancing, increasing sanitization and disinfecting practices, and providing educational activities to keep children on track academically due to school closures. The additional costs incurred by the agency are being met, in part, by this grant received from Thunderbirds Charities.
Food and other everyday necessities have also been harder to acquire and more and more low-income at-risk children of families the organization serves need help. In addition to ensuring the children in shelter are properly nourished, there is a curbside food program now in place to help an additional 200 children in foster and adoptive homes and in the Early Education Program. “We are most grateful for this funding from Thunderbird Charities,” said Torrie Taj, Chief Executive Officer. “The Thunderbirds have a strong history of supporting Child Crisis Arizona with significant and transformational gifts. At this time, when we needed help for the COVID-19 emergency, they were there once again as a community partner. During these uncertain and unusual times, their help is vital to allowing us to continue to keep our most vulnerable children safe.”
This grant is part of the Spring 2020 cycle. View a list of all Recent Grantees.