Photo by Makenzey Mae Photography
In my time planning events and creating content for One Family Illinois, I was able to build some serious project management and creativity muscle. The best part? It was all to support children in foster care.
Enjoy your scroll-through of some of my favorite projects!
Logo and t-shirt design for the organization’s 35th anniversary.
Excerpts from the Summer 2024 print newsletter—written and designed by me!
How Therapy Is Helping Kids Conquer Challenges
By Rachel Ellicott
Entering foster care is frightening. No matter what else may have occurred, children who have been separated from their homes, communities, and possessions are experiencing trauma from that alone—and treating that trauma with care is what One Family Illinois’ on-staff clinical therapists are best at.
“I’m supposed to hold their hurt. Because sometimes it’s too much for them, and they can’t hold it themselves.” says Gabriella Chavarin, Clinical Therapist at Lockport Village.
“I tell them, ‘Give me all your big, scary feelings. I can handle it. I can hold on to those things.’”
One of Gabriella’s current clients has been in foster care for four years—nearly half of this 10-year-old's life. She shares, “When I first met them, they had so much anger.”
And despite therapy sessions, private conversations, and team meetings, no one could figure out why.
One day during a therapy session, the conversation turned to the child’s biological parent. “I don’t even understand what went wrong,” the child told Gabriella. After some questions, Gabriella found out the truth:
“I realized, ‘This child thinks that it’s their fault they’re in foster care!’ And not just
themselves, but their sisters and brothers, too.”
With that information, Gabriella advocated that the child be told the reason they were brought into care...which had nothing to do with them.
After they gently explained the situation, Gabriella says:
“You could visibly see a visceral reaction after we told them. Their shoulders went down, they took a deep breath, and you could see the realization of: ‘it wasn’t my fault.’”
From then on, this child has been doing so well that Gabriella is considering successfully discharging them from therapy.
Without your support, therapists like Gabriella couldn't do their work, and children in foster care would have to face their challenges alone.
Though the children in our care have gone through a lot, their resilience is nothing short of inspiring.
“Therapy gives these kids their voices back,” says Gabriella. “It helps them get to a place where they feel like they can do anything.”
You have a place in this story as well.
Without your support, therapists like Gabriella couldn't do their work, and children in foster care would have to face their challenges alone.
Thank you for giving — you are helping kids heal!