Orleans Parish TEEN COURT

When I worked as a high school principal, I was very proud of our Honor  Council and its incredible impact on our school community.  The Honor Council was comprised of 6 high school students, who ran for office via election, and one faculty moderator.  We trained members of the Council to hear about major violations of our rules & suggest consequences to the administration.  As the Head of Upper School, it was my goal to uphold as many Honor Council decisions as possible.  In many cases, the consequences kids came up with were more effective and appropriate than ideas from the administration.  And in most cases, students took consequences from the Council more seriously because they knew that their peers were there to help them grow and also understood the pressures that led to a violation.

I was thrilled to discover that Orleans Parish Juvenile Court is home to its very own TEEN COURT!  Similar to our Honor Council, this group of trained teens hears Juvenile, non-violent, first-time offender cases referred to them by juvenile judges.  Teens can volunteer to be jurors or even be trained as "lawyers" and "judges!"

If you are or know a teenager in New Orleans who would be interested in participating, PLEASE PASS THIS INFO ALONG!  Interested teens should email Dr. Clarance J. Bickham at cjbickham1@nola.gov or call him at (504) 658-9583.

Teen Court has been on a bit of a hiatus in recent years, but Dr. Clarance J. Bickham is bringing it back this summer.  A program like this can make a HUGE, POSITIVE IMPACT on the kids in our community.  I've seen it myself.

APRIL Awareness Event

On Sunday, April 11, 2021, we hosted an APRIL AWARENESS event in Audubon Park.  We love crafting, and the kids we work with love receiving hand-made gifts, so we often host "Craft for a Cause" events.   Yesterday, we made pinwheels.

While it didn't pan out like I'd envisioned (when does it ever?), it was a great, successful afternoon for LTK.   I was so encouraged.  The main goal was to keep child abuse issues in the public mind and stimulate conversations about it, and we did just that.  Adults enjoyed free, cold water on their afternoon walk or jog, toddlers in strollers LOVED the pinwheels we taped to their strollers, older kids taped pinwheels to their bikes, dozens of awareness t-shirts were given away, and many strong connections were made.  Listen to Kids will continue to hold a safe space for our community to talk about child abuse and its affects.  

THANK YOU for your donations of money and time yesterday!

Partnership with Home Malone!

This is our second year partnering with local artisan shop Home Malone to sell an awareness door hanger.  We've combined the blue pinwheel of "Pinwheels for Prevention" with the LTK logo.  Join the cause this April with this beautiful door hanger!  Available NOW for purchase. (Home Malone ships out of state, too.)  A percentage of profits will go to Listen to Kids.  

Sidewalk Chalk Event

The Sidewalk Chalk event on March 14 was wonderful!  We gave away all 50 "Sidewalk Chalk Awareness Kits,"  and then started giving kids leftover chalk.  We also distributed over 50 pieces of prevention literature.  In the process, we made several new connections with our neighbors.  It was so sweet to see kids walking in Audubon Park holding blue pinwheels!

One boy fell off his bike looking at our decorations.  His dad comforted him, and we brought them ice and a pinwheel.  Father & son found a way to attach the pinwheel to his bike so that it would spin as he biked.  He left with a big, proud smile on his face, and his dad left with prevention literature.

Car Full of In-Kind Donations!

On February 23, Michelle received an entire CARLOAD of in-kind donations!

• 5 LARGE bags of clothing and shoes (from Alicia & family)
• 38 travel bags of different sizes (from Linda, on behalf of Women for a Better Louisiana)

All of it was delivered to the closets of the Audrey Hepburn CARE Center/New Orleans Child Advocacy Center (NOCAC) that afternoon.  

We can't THANK YOU enough,

ALICIA, LINDA & WBL!

Valentines for the Girls at Raintree House

For Valentine's Day this year, Listen to Kids prepared a Valentine's gift for each teen girl living at Raintree House.   It's a group home for foster kids.

Thanks to our donors' generosity, we made 15 gifts for UNDER $5 EACH!!!  

Each girl received:

• a hand-made Valentine card
• a piece of new jewelry, wrapped in a box
• a new journal
• a gel pen
• Valentine's candy

Of course, I had to throw in a few Haydel's king cakes.  

February Donation to Covenant House NOLA!

On February 12, 2021, we delivered FOUR giant garbage bags full of clothing and about a dozen stuffed animals to the 200ish kids living at Covenant House NOLA. Your in-kind donations of new or gently used clothing are vital for Covenant House's program.  THANK YOU THANK YOU, Mom & Dad, and Alicia, for these donations.  They'll make kids feel worthy this winter.

-Michelle

At Christmastime 2020,

Listen to Kids participated in collecting, packaging, and distributing 

SO MANY GIFTS to local kids who've suffered abuse & its consequences!!!

• Raintree House (home for adolescent girls) -- 15 Christmas gift bags (reusable totes) filled with beauty & self-care items
• Covenant House NOLA (home for homeless teens) -- 8 board games, 20 toiletry kits, 15 individually wrapped & personalized Christmas gifts for teen girls, about a dozen large hygiene items to share (toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, etc.), personal notes to employees, and handmade Christmas ornaments 
• NOCAC (kids who experience abuse, through age 19) -- over 50 winter coats, 30 blank journals, new toys for toddlers, 6 new outfits for boys ages 5-8, 15 pairs of new shoes, tampons & pads, and handmade Christmas ornaments

N.O. Mission Gala 2020

Listen to Kids was honored to have a table at this year’s New Orleans Mission Gala, held at Lynhaven Retreat Center, their women’s discipleship campus.  Women in the program cooked & served us dinner.  We were serenaded by Danny Gokey, and David Bottner told story after story of transformed lives at the Mission.  The event was held outside on the retreat center grounds on a gorgeous evening.  It was a wonderful night of celebration, gratitude, & networking for those of us interested in helping the homeless of all ages.  

Homelessness & Listen to Kids

Youth and Adult Homelessness are the frequent result of untreated Adverse Childhood Experiences, especially abuse and neglect.

In NOLA, we're partnering with the New Orleans Mission.  Many adults who seek help there have never addressed their childhood traumas.