Our Impact
Impact Projects
Education Advocacy Project
Education can enhance a child's well-being, help them make more successful transitions to adulthood, and increase their chances for personal fulfillment and economic self-sufficiency. That's why we are committed to education and to providing valuable educational resources to our children through our partnership with the Triangle Literacy Council (TLC).
In the spring of 2016, the Friends, the Wake County Department of Human Services and TLC began their Education Advocacy Project (EAP). EAP provides Wake County foster children (ages 6 to 12) literacy intervention with an overall goal of increasing their grade level. Trained instructors travel to their foster homes to lead children in weekly tutoring sessions that focus on developing basic literacy skills while exploring STEM subjects like science, technology, and math to allow participants the opportunity to develop an interest in these fields. In addition, the instructor provides students with life skills mentoring including leadership training, health and nutrition, and study skills.
Computers
for Kids
Friends of Wake GAL partners with the Kramden Institute to bring computers to Wake Co. children in need struggling with their academics because they didn't have access to computers in their homes.
The Friends computer donation program was established to provide school-aged children in need with a computer, a printer, a flash drive, and office-based computer programs to provide them with the digital tools that have become so widely used by school children today. To this package we add anti-virus and anti-malware software, and a variety of other software utilities to aid them in their work and to protect their data.
Backpacks
for Kids
Throughout the year, Friends of the Guardian Ad Litem work with the community to collect school supplies and backpacks for children in need. There are many children in our schools who do not have the resources to start school with the necessary school supplies.
The goal of this project is to set each child up for success and have them feel a sense of pride on their first day of school. The classroom environment is a haven for most children that live in poverty and have limited, if any, resources to support their educational needs.
Comfort
Cases
Too often the children in foster care move from placement to placement with their belongings in cardboard boxes or garbage bags. That's why we've started the Comfort Cases project. With assistance from our community, we are working to provide these children with luggage of their own. Our hope is to provide a sense of normalcy with every gifted suitcase or travel bag.
Contact us for more details on how to get involved. Drop-off your luggage or request a pick-up appointment!
Camp
Grants
Through our advocacy work and fundraising efforts, the Friends partners with local community organizations (i.e. The YMCA) to help fund enrichment camps for children in the Foster Care system.
Guardian
Angel Tree
Each year, the Friends of Wake County GAL provide Holiday presents to over 1200 children in need during the Holiday season. Thanks to Friends volunteers and to our generous community sponsors, the toy donations bring smiles to the faces of at-risk children in Wake County.
A Chance
to Smile
For this project, we've partnered with Bovenizer & Baker Orthodontics in Cary, NC to bring children a Chance to Smile. This new project provides orthodontic treatment for kids who may not otherwise have the opportunity. Donations are used to supplement the cost of braces for children who may not otherwise have the opportunity.