Things You Didn’t Know about Pressley Ridge

Thank you Jim Schuyler, Marketing Communications Coordinator for Pressley Ridge for providing such great information about this organization. There are some seriously interesting facts and touching, wonderful stories about Pressley Ridge. Having lived in and around the ‘Burgh all my life, I’m surprised by all I didn’t know about them! Read on…

Pressley Ridge, a non-profit organization, is 179 years old and has been providing services since 1832. (Wow! to both those facts-mcb) It provides services to 5,600 children and families with challenges and critical needs annually in six states and Washington D.C, with our largest population being served in Pennsylvania.

The children in our programs have a wide variety of challenges ranging from abuse and neglect to emotional/ behavioral challenges to developmental disabilities like autism.  As you can imagine, with these types of challenges facing families in our communities, there will be an even greater need for the services that Pressley Ridge offers.   

With your support, you can transform one child’s misfortune into a future of hope and opportunity.

STORIES FROM THE CHILDREN of Pressley Ridge

( I wish I had space to share them all; for more go here.)

Treatment Foster Care Paves Road to Success

*My name is Bridget. I am 18 years old and have been in county custody in Ohio since I was 13. I have been in psychiatric hospitals many times and ran away frequently.

My 19 year old brother was killed when I was in the ninth grade. Things were getting even worse. That’s when I decided that I was going to turn my life around and change my ways. I called my former Pressley Ridge foster mom who had always been there for me.

After returning to my foster home in January 2009, I have made merit and honor roll. I am more focused than ever, have made solid friendships and developed relationships. I graduated from high school with my class on May 22nd, 2010.

The reason I have shared my story with you is to show you the obstacles I have overcome and the successes I have achieved. Throughout the years I was told that I couldn’t do a lot of things in my life because people thought either I would run away or because I wasn’t stable enough.

 Pressley Ridge changed all of this for me.

My foster mom believes in me, pushes me to work hard, and makes sure I am involved. I feel that with my foster mom’s support, Pressley Ridge’s help, and my hard work I have been able to accomplish many goals including becoming a college student.

**Chris’s mother thought it would take a miracle to keep her family together. She found her miracle in Pressley Ridge’s Community-based Services. Chris’s mother grew more confident as she regained control of her home. She described her family-based team as “miracle workers.” As for Chris, he now has a better relationship with his mother and his siblings. He attends technical school and holds a part-time job.

***Shenan had a long road behind her by the time she came to Pressley Ridge when she was 12 years old. In elementary school she received special education services and occupational therapy for her blindness. By the fourth grade Shenan was experiencing increasing behavioral and emotional difficulties. Shenan still had not found a fit for her needs. Often she would refuse to do her work, lose her temper, and run from the classroom. Her social skills were poor at best. Looking back to the days before Pressley Ridge, failure was a way of life for Shenan, but one can see that success was always a possibility with the right support. Shenan has now received that support, has graduated from Pressley Ridge and lives in a world where she is successful.

Think of stories like these and of all that Pressley Ridge does for our communities.  Families and children benefit positively from services. In turn so do friends, neighbors and communities.

Contributing during Day of Giving increases the dollar amount that each of you provide because The Pittsburgh Foundation matches a percentage of each donation. Your donation to Pressley Ridge on October 4, 2011 at PittsburghGives will go even further toward the services they provide.

Your donation will continue to:

1. Allow Pressley Ridge to serve children with autism and various behavioral /emotional problems. These kids get a chance to learn and excel in a setting designed specifically for them.

2. Aid in services for kids that need attention, love and guidance.

3. Help kids reunite with their biological families or get adopted

4. Provide kids a safe place to work out their issues while getting help  from professional caring staff 24 hours a day – 7 days a week – year round

5. Allow Pressley Ridge staff to continue to work with families in their homes to educate them on ways to become loving, happy and successful families with the hope that they avoid danger and a broken family.

Helping some of Pittsburgh’s most vulnerable kids!

Sharing Makes the World Go ‘Round

In an e-mail response to my Re:solutions post, I was given this suggestion for a follow-up post:

How the simple sharing of ideas can change the world one person at a time…

It’s true. I simply share my ideas with you.  I read ideas from friend’s and blogger’s that in turn prompt me to do something that makes me better, kinder or meaningful  in someone’s life.  In essence, that’s why I write here.  As I have said before, we all have the power to change the world. Your world might only extend as far as your own home.  That’s great, too! It starts by sharing our stories and motivating each other to be good people.

I was thinking of people I have come in contact with in my life or through social media that try to make a difference in the world.  The unique tie isn’t that they want to change the world. The common bond I found is that the work they do focuses on helping one person at a time. They change the world one person at a time, just like my reader said.  She shared my idea of creating a ‘new year solution’ with her husband. That prompted their discussion on what they could do to be part of a solution that means something to them as a couple. They made a plan and will put it into effect throughout the year.  She ended her e-mail with:

So kudos to you.  You just jumpstarted your re:solutions!

I say it’s  kudos to her and her husband for taking the idea and finding a way to make their own solution.  One that resonates with them.

Let what you see in this picture remind you: even if you can’t see the forest for the trees, there are people beyond our field of vision that need us.

Check back soon for my next post.  I will share some of those people who I mentioned above who are changing the world one person at a time. You might want to join them on their quest. Or they might inspire you to start your own project.  At the least, I am sure it will brighten your day to know there are wonderful people in the world around us.

I can’t say it better than my reader so…

Simply Put- The simple sharing of ideas can change the world one person at a time.