THE BIG LAUNCH

The Launch of A Better Day than Yesterday Initiative Program is to bring awareness to the World and our local community about unintentional victims of crime-children of incarcerated parents. When a loved one is sentenced to prison, the emotional turmoil is difficult for everyone to accept. The heaviest burden is felt by those who are unintentional victims of crime-children of incarcerated parents.

Nationally, 6.3 million children have at least one parent in jail or prison. Sadly, 70 percent of these kids are doomed to follow in the same footsteps as their parents becoming imprisoned at some point in their lives. In fact, children of incarcerated parents are five times more likely than their peers to commit crimes. However, these at-risk children are largely ignored before they get in trouble. So, what becomes of these children whose mother or fathers are locked up? Often, they are left to fend for themselves emotionally and the stress of child-rearing falls on a grandmother, usually, or another surrogate parent or the children may end up in protective services. These hardships manifest in children's mental health issues like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and feelings of abandonment.

Did you know, 50 - 75% of 2 million youth encountering juvenile justice system meet criteria for mental health disorder? Also, children go through a grieving process. In an effort to curb the cycle of imprisonment and address an overlooked population of at-risk children.

At A Better Day Than Yesterday, our goal is to help kids have an incarcerated parent cope a little better through our Child Advocacy program. The Child Advocacy program goal is to uplift the voice of our youth participants. We empower children to ‘speak out’ on their behalf and assist children as well as youth in finding their internal power by teaching them how to use their power effectively.

We plan to become an advocate for children with incarcerated parents. We also plan to reduce Ex-offenders rate of relapse from substance and alcohol abuse by 50% and employ 63% of the clients (Ex-Offenders) enrolled in the program, after being released. We are committed to Restoring Families, Encouraging Love, Integrity, Principles, and Values.

Who will benefit from A Better Day Than Yesterday Initiative Program? Children who have an incarcerated parent(s).

How will A Better Day Than Yesterday help Unintentional Victims - Children with incarcerated parents?

We have mentors that volunteer their time in accompanying the children with visiting their incarcerated parent(s) at different institutions. We offer Group Therapy services once a month on the third (3rd) Saturday of every month from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm. Click here for additional information about our Group Therapy.

UPCOMING EVENTS

On June 17, 2017 | A Better Day than Yesterday is having its first fundraiser. "Wine for Cause" to raise funds to purchase transportation vehicles to transport kids to visit their parents in prison.
On July 1, 2017 at 12 pm | We will serve lunch to the homeless in the Highland Park area. We are dedicated to supporting individuals through our various initiatives. With one of our initiatives being Homeless Outreach, we are always striving to make a difference. Whether it is in our community, or one much farther away from home, we know that all in need deserve our help and support.
July 15, 2017 |Kick-off to Group Therapy will be held at 1112 E. Main St. Richmond, Va. 23219 from 11 am to 1 pm.