A $25,000 Coachella Valley Spotlight grant from the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation will benefit children in North Palm Springs. Family Health & Support Network, Inc. (FHSN) recently acquired a 7,000 square foot facility in the Desert Highland Gateway Estates, which has historically been an underserved African American community. FHSN is making substantial improvements to the property, including installing a golf putting green, creating a fully functional computer lab, and developing a qualified S.T.E.M. program.
“These projects will position Family Health & Support Network for extraordinary success as we grow our Building Resilience in African American Families (BRAAF) Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) programs,” said Sandra Austin, Co-Founder and CEO of FHSN. “The Berger Foundation grant is a huge boost to help us see our dreams through to completion. This will make a definite difference in the lives of young people.”
FHSN was founded in 2003 by Austin, Robbie Peer and Michael Scott in response to a need expressed by the Department of Public Social Services to develop quality foster family homes in the Coachella Valley. The group was ecstatic to expand its services through the Riverside University Health Systems – Behavioral Health to provide the unique culturally specific BRAAF PEI programs to the area’s African American population in 2011.
“Founders of the organization, its staff and volunteer mentors are aware of the challenges facing youth, and they are dedicated to developing solutions,” said Catharine Reed, Vice President of Charitable Programs for the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation. “I can’t wait to see how the grant funds help transform the new facility.”
Approximately 250 children, ages 11-14 and their families benefit from the services of the intervention programs annually. Licensed therapists and educators as well as trained adult mentors provide State licensed intensive treatment foster care, counseling, therapy, education and career planning, parent support services and other prevention and early intervention programs. All programs are free and culturally appropriate, and offer healthy food choices, transportation and childcare in order to alleviate any barriers that might prevent participation.
“Family Health & Support Network programs are inspiring children to reach higher and break cycles of poverty and educational limits,” said Jerry Upham, General Manager of Gulf California Broadcast Company, which owns and operates KESQ News Channel 3 and KPSP CBS Local 2.
Through the Coachella Valley Spotlight partnership with the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and News Channel 3, Family Health & Support Network, Inc. was featured on News Channel 3 programming, in public service announcements and on kesq.com throughout February. For more information about the organization, which offers services in Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Desert, Indio, and now at a new facility at 588 Rosa Parks Road, Palm Springs, visit www.fhsnet.org or call 760-340-2442.
