Children & Families Programs

Helping the Hidden Victims

“ I should never have had to witness what I saw as a child.”
~ Peyton Moffet, Shine Participant

Children are the unintended, “hidden” victims of incarcerated parents. These children face heightened stress and shame, and suffer emotional, physical, academic, and financial hardships. The overall impact can be devastating and can negatively change the trajectory of these young lives. The same is true of the caregivers who are left to support the children during the parent’s absence.

For this reason, we developed specialized programs for the children and caregivers of our inmate clients to help them cope and build resiliency.

Over 1 in 28 children in the U.S. have a parent who is in jail or prison.

Our Shine Children’s Program

“Me and my sister want to go to Shine because we have someone to talk to and play with. Things have been hard with Daddy in jail.”

Reghan, Age 10 SCM Shine Participant

Through our Shine program, we meet with each child one-on-one every week. Our purpose is to meet the emotional, social, academic, and spiritual needs of these children. We provide a trauma-informed and positive environment where children can shine through whatever they are facing.

And the best part? We have seen children improve their mental/emotional health, grades, and relationships with their caregivers.

Children’s Group Support

We also offer support to children in group settings through our Celebration Place Program (children aged 5 – 12) and our Celebration Landing Program (teens aged 13 – 18). These programs help our children develop social skills and understand they are not alone in what they are facing. We help these children overcome:

Parental addiction or abandonment
Social and emotional issues
Low self-esteem
Bullying
Relationship and friendship issues
Behavioral issues

Our Celebration Place and Landing meetings take place every Monday evening from 6 – 7:15 pm, with meals beginning at 5:30 pm. We meet at the new Legacy Dream Center:

13094 US-52
Norwood, NC 28128

Call 704-576-3268 to register your child.

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Caregiver Support

Often these children are being cared for by someone other than their parents. We provide parenting and practical mentorship and guidance for these caregivers.