Every Child Counts

The mission of Every Child Counts is to improve the lives of children
who live in situations that threaten their physical and emotional health and
well-being through targeted programs, advocacy and support.

The vision of Every Child Counts is for all children living in
Delaware County to live happily, without hunger or poverty,
without exposure to traumas and with equal access to high quality education.

ECC’s mission is to improve the lives of children living in high-risk
situations. We work with victims and survivors of trauma, children living in
foster care and those who live in poverty. We recognize
that the higher the educational achievements of a community, the lower the
poverty level. Barriers to educational and professional success include hunger,
housing instability, increased crime, increased childhood trauma and exposure
to violence in general. In Delaware County, ECC seeks to address many of these
barriers with our four programs: Thriving After Adversity, Helping Hands at
Holidays, A New Beginning and Operation Graduate.

Our Programs

Helping Hands

Impact: 1,231 kids and their families served in 2024

The recipients of this program are children who are
homeless, in foster care, those who are victims or survivors of child abuse and
those who live in poverty. Our goal is to help these children achieve their
highest potential. Every child deserves to be happy, safe and loved. Ideally,
they should be well fed, be able to thrive in school, have needed supplies,
clothing, shoes and a safe place to sleep. Unfortunately, this is not often the
case. At ECC we recognize that the lack of these necessities may hamper a
child’s ability to achieve to the best of their ability. Our goal is to
continue to provide food, school supplies and clothing to support the children
and their families.

A New Beginning

Impact: 475 youth served in 2024

This program runs year long and is specific for
children who are homeless and those who are placed into foster care. Years of
research show that these children are more likely to be hungry, to have
difficulty concentrating in school and therefore, struggle academically,
mentally and socially as compared to their peers.  The goal of this
program is to provide an easier transition from homelessness so that families
can focus on healing and feeling whole again.

Thriving After Adversity

Impact: 130 youths served in 2024

The goal for the participants of this program is that
we help children to heal after trauma. Child abuse crosses all socioeconomic
and educational levels, all religions, cultures and ethnic groups. ECC seeks to
decrease the cycle of violence in our community and reduce revictimization by
teaching survivors about resilience through trauma informed care. There is
adequate access to talk therapy in our county, but for those not ready to talk
about their trauma, there is a paucity of intervention. ECC plans to provide
alternative forms of trauma focused therapies: Art therapy, Yoga, Music therapy
and dance/movement therapy.

Operation Graduate –
Bright Futures for Kids in Delco

Impact: 26 kids served in 2024

The goal of this program is to help high school
students achieve their goal of attending and graduating from college. These
students are chosen based on their risk status. Recognizing that the higher the
educational achievements of a community, the lower the poverty level, we aim to
slowly, over time raise the educational level of our impoverished areas in
Delaware County to improve the social determinants of health. ECC provides
college supplies, mentors and in 2020, began providing monetary scholarships for
students.