A service agency thrives while facing a crisis of its own
KIDS IN CRISIS LOST STATE FUNDING, BUT CARRIES ON WITH THE MISSION OF HELPING THOUSANDS IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY
When Brina Rodriguez was 14 years old, she ran away from home with almost no plan of what to do next.
“It was scary,” recalls the now 31- year- old Rodriguez, who lives in Norwalk. “I remember going to New York — getting on a train and thinking ‘ I’m just going to go where I want.’ ”
Rodriguez’s life to that point had been difficult. A survivor of sexual abuse, she’d recently seen her parents go through a difficult divorce. After their marriage dissolved, she was raised by her mom, who was battling depression.
So Rodriguez left. But, she says “at some point, reality hits you.” She quickly realized she had no ideas about how to live on her own. Within two weeks of running away, a police officer brought Rodriguez back home.
That’s when her life began to change. The officer told Rodriguez’s family about Kids in Crisis, a Greenwich- based, 12- bed emergency shelter for children aged newborn through 18. The program provides housing, counseling, medical support, transportation and other services for children throughout Fairfield County who are unable to live at home for a variety of reasons.
Those reasons can be everything from substance abuse to mental health issues to a variety of behavioral concerns.
“We’re here, because families have a lot to deal with,” says executive director Shari Shapiro. “Our saying here is that we view crisis as an opportunity. It’s an opportunity for change. It’s an opportunity for growth.”
Since Kids in Crisis started in 1978, it has helped at least 154,000 children.
The program went through its own crisis period about five years ago when a contract with the state ended and the program lost its funding. But, like many of the young people it serves, Kids in Crisis fought through that difficult time and continued to thrive.
When the program first lost funding, “we cried a lot,” Shapiro says. It seemed uncertain at first whether it could remain open. However, Shapiro says, she and other staff soon realized they had no choice.
“If we’re not here, where do these kids end up?” she says.
After a grieving period, Shapiro says, staff took multiple belt- tightening measures, such as cutting beds and not hiring new staff. Instead of having residents referred from the state Department of Children and Families — as it did when it was state- funded — the program receives referrals from a variety of avenues. Families and children also are encouraged to call the program’s 24- hour helpline if they need assistance.
Today, Kids in Crisis depends largely on the generosity of corporate and individual donors, as well as volunteers. The latter category includes Rodriguez, who was so moved and inspired by her time at the shelter that she’s remained connected to the organization as an adult.
When the police officer recommended Kids in Crisis to her family “I knew this was my only option,” Rodriguez recalls.
At the time, she says, she knew she needed to get her life in order, but she dreaded going to the shelter.
“In my mind, I blew this up to ‘ I’m going to jail! It’s going to be awful!’ ” Rodriguez says.
But when she actually arrived at the shelter, what she found was not a prison, but a home.
She had her own room. There were rules and responsibilities ( including chores), but there was also therapy, regular access to medical care and a general support and structure that her life had been lacking at that point.
Gradually, Rodriguez began to find her footing while at the shelter. She saw a therapist regularly, went to school and even learned that she could make a difference. She says one event that has stayed with her was a campaign she undertook to change the shelter’s rules about the length of phone calls.
Rodriguez complained to staff, and was told to make a case for longer phone time.
She rallied other residents to her cause, made a presentation and got the rule changed. It was, she says one of the first times she realized she could use her voice to make a difference.
She stayed for six weeks, then returned home to her family. Though she still faced some obstacles ( she dropped out of high school at 17 to work, before eventually getting her degree), Rodriguez says her time at Kids in Crisis gave her perspective and the tools she needed to succeed.
“All of the things I learned stayed with me,” she says. “I felt more grateful for my home and environment. As difficult as it could be at times, it was better than what some of my peers were facing.”
Today, Rodriguez is a biological mother to four children and foster mother to an additional three children. She runs her own business — Solude, an online coffee retailer. Customers can donate a portion of their purchase price to a variety of causes, including Kids in Crisis.
Rodriguez has also volunteered with the Kids in Crisis teen program, showing up on Thursday nights to hang out with residents, talking with them, playing games generally “being in their space,” she says.
Her ultimate goal, Rodriguez says, is to run for office. In the meantime, she wants to help Kids in Crisis any way that she can.
“This is my second home,” she says. “If places like this don’t exist, people like me will disappear.”
‘ IF WE’RE NOT HERE, WHERE DO THESE KIDS END UP?’