Carol G. Houwaart-Diez, United Way of Martin County President/CEO, Harriet Ostertag, MA, Hibiscus Residential Clinical Services Coordinator, Jennifer Rawlings, Hibiscus Education & Volunteer Coordinator, and Geoff Lieberman, United Way of Martin County Incoming Campaign Chair. Photo by Sevin Photography
Hibiscus Children’s Center Receives Literacy & Equine Therapy Grants from United Way of Martin County
Hibiscus Children’s Center is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of two grants from the United Way of Martin County. A $10,000 grant was awarded for the Hibiscus Literacy Program and $7,500 grant awarded for the Equine and Music Therapy Program. The generous support will help provide critical educational and therapeutic services for the abused, abandoned and neglected children living at the Tilton Family Children’s Shelter in Jensen Beach.
The Hibiscus Literacy Program provides individualized assistance and opportunities for the children to strengthen and enhance their academic and emotional development. It also helps to foster a love for reading and provide a fundamental foundation for education. The Literacy Coordinator assesses each child and determines his or her reading vocabulary and comprehension skills, learning styles, and current academic level, then an individual development strategy is implemented that will lead to success. This includes collaboration with staff, therapists, and school personnel. Last year, 90% of children who participated in the Literacy Program improved their reading proficiency.
The children also participate in the Harmony and Horses Program with Harmony Hope Stables in Palm City. Equine and music therapy is a new, innovative therapeutic approach that will bring transformational healing for children and reach them in a way traditional therapies cannot. This unique partnership is an expansion to Hibiscus Children’s Center’s current mental health program for children. The devastating effects of child abuse go far beyond its immediate physical and emotional impact on the child. The impact permeates throughout the child’s entire life cycle. Abused children show higher rates of school delinquency and failure, drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, early entry into the criminal justice system, and domestic violence. The transformational impact for children who participate in non-traditional approaches to mental health care such as equine therapy and music therapy are truly amazing.
Hibiscus is grateful to the United Way of Martin County for their partnership and support of the educational and mental health needs of our children.
