Family Services program offers support to local families

By Jenny Jones
Summer Reporter

When a spokesperson from Family Services visited one of Angi Cornell's classes at Purdue, she knew it was the organization she wanted to work for after graduation.

Now, two years later, Cornell is a family support specialist as part of Family Services' Healthy Families program.

At the beginning of July, the Healthy Families program was awarded $34,677 from the sale of "Kids First" license plates, while its Child Abuse Prevention Program was presented with $39,202.

The Healthy Families program offers a variety of services such as support and in-home visits for families with new children. The program is especially responsible for letting new parents know they are not alone when raising children, so they don't feel overwhelmed, said Shohini Sinha, director of Child and Family Services.

Cornell said she thinks her work with Healthy Families is challenging and rewarding. It's difficult to teach moms alternative styles in raising their children, but it's exciting to see the children grow up, say their first words and walk, she said.

With the funds raised from the sale of "Kids First" license plates, the program will be able to help more families, in addition to the 750 it already assists in Tippecanoe and Carroll Counties.

"(Purchasing the "Kids First" plates) contributes money to a worthy cause," Sinha said. "You have to buy a plate regardless so you might as well kick in a few dollars for a worthy cause."

While Healthy Families aids in the lives of 750 families, the Child Abuse Prevention program has reached 3,017 children and adults in Fountain, Clinton, Carroll, Benton and White Counties.

The program enables employees to visit local schools and teach children about "good touch, bad touch" and other ways of hindering abuse.

The cost in preventing abuse is much less than the cost of treating a family that has been abused, Sinha said.

The money raised from "Kids First" plate sales will help prevent abuse before it begins, Sinha said. "(It's) dollars well spent."

Family Services, a non-profit United Way agency, has 14 different programs to help families, regardless of income or family status and has been in the Lafayette area for over 35 years.

"We have so many different programs and help so many different people," Cornell said.