Usually, when a married couple says, “I do,” they utter those words on a special day, also known as a wedding. For Sara and Blair Riffel, the phrase has echoed throughout their commitment to their communities. Read more about how Nebraska Children’s Connected Youth Initiative Vice President, Sara Riffel, and her husband Blair put their heads and hearts together to spread holiday cheer.
Meet Denise Daugherty.
“Now I do what makes me happy. I’m not worried about others. The reason I got into trouble was that I needed to love and protect people.” Denise Daughtery reveals how she pushed beyond foster care and incarceration and into her dreams with Beyond School Bells, Connected Youth Initiative, and Central Plains Center for Services’ coaching and support. Read more.
How do Nebraska Children and Families Foundation and partners create positive change? We work through and with our communities, especially our young people. As far as we’re concerned, they are the catalysts for transformation! Thanks to the power of CYI and Beyond School Bells, our afterschool network, Jessi said that she and our partners put CARES Act dollars to good use. Now, young leaders are changing children’s lives for the better!
We’re so glad that our staff and Connected Youth Initiative participants joined leaders from across the nation for a two-day LEAP convening on November 3-4, hosted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and organized by LEAP Young Fellows and partners. Read more about how LEAP creates positive change for young people who experienced foster care.
We’re glad to have rung in another successful Changemakers, an annual celebration of the positive change happening throughout Nebraska. We’re especially thankful to you for joining Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, along with our many supporters. Read more about all the positive change you’ve helped us create.
Meet Nedhal, Nebraska’s new young leader: “Helping more than I could before in the foster care system is amazing. I’m hoping I can better prepare young adults to feel comfortable being on their own and becoming an adult.”
Starting in March 2020, Nebraska Children and partners listened to these young people’s voices. One thing became apparent – they wanted to be heard and find ways to meet their needs. Together, we and our co-collaborators leveraged our supports in response to these essential needs and challenges. Read about the headway we and our partners have made to respond to young people impacted by COVID-19.
Afterschool’s Impact: “It Prepared Me for Being a Leader in the Adult World; I Have No Fear of Leading Adult Men or Women in STEM.” Read more about Kathy.
The Nebraska Children team worked overtime with equally hardworking providers to ensure they received almost $10 million in CARES Act funding.
When the pandemic struck, early childhood programs found themselves in dire straits. With fluctuating enrollments, mortgages to pay, and children to care for, the future of childcare seemed unpredictable. Read about how Nebraska Children’s expert early childhood team worked with providers and owners of early childhood programs like Cory Quimby to ensure they could see through to the end of the pandemic.
Growing the Good Life 