Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2018-2019 | Page 101
neighborhoods. Tanya Bean-Garrett, who sits on the CLR for
both Fruitridge and Oak Park, first learned about the BCLC
in 2016, when her 19-year-old son was shot in their home and
died two days later — a victim of third-party homicide.
During that time, representatives from BCLC offered
support to her family while she was with her son in the hos-
pital. She had no idea who the people were, but she said with
their presence, she didn’t have to worry about anything.
“It made me wonder, Who are these people?” Bean-Garrett
says. Two crisis responders with the campaign told her more
about it, and she wanted to help.
“Since then, I have been boots down,” Bean-Garrett says.
“It was a part of my healing process too, because not only
does Black Child Legacy give that support, but the resources
for my family to heal — I was able to use these resources to
help me and my family.”
Now, Bean-Garrett spends much of her time connecting
with people in her community, handing out information
and raising awareness about BCLC. Born and raised in Oak
Park and a mom of four, she is well-known in her communi-
ty. When people see what she’s doing, she says they stop and
ask questions.
MAKING STRIDES TOWARD 2020
The BCLC 2016-17 annual report shows that more than 3,000
people throughout the target communities received infor-
mation about leading causes of death, and more than 500
youth were engaged through festivals, programming and
other outreach.
Among the four causes of death, infant sleep has seen
the most progress. Woods Andrews says that preliminary
data shows a decrease in infant sleep-related deaths, and
that the BCLC efforts are working.
Serna says he is pleased that action has been taken. “One
of the things we wanted to do at the outset of this effort is to
hold ourselves accountable — not just the board of supervi-
sors or my office or CPS — but the entire community working
with our agencies and our nonprofit partners,” Serna says.
Lawrence is confident that the campaign is on track to-
ward meeting the 2020 goal.
“When you look at that level of vision and strategy that’s
never before been done, it’s working,” Lawrence says. “We’re
in year three, and numbers don’t lie, and we’re able to see
a decrease and recognize that Sacramento County is more
unified in this effort just by people knowing about the Black
Child Legacy Campaign. They understand people are doing
this work, and we’re doing it unapologetically.” n
Jessica Dumont is a freelance writer, editor and content
specialist with a background in corporate public relations.
A born-and-raised Placer County resident, she currently
lives in Roseville with her husband and two young daugh-
ters following stints in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
For more information, visit www.jessicadumont.com.
Celebrating 25 years of Strengthening Families and Building Communities
The Center for Fathers and Families (CFF) is a 501(c)
(3) non-profit agency with a strong history of responding
to the needs of fathers and their families.
ILIE
Our three main initiatives are starting young people on a
positive path, helping parents achieve and maintain
success, and empowering families to thrive together.
Our life changing programs include:
Youth Services
MASTERS (Making Afterschool Time Enriching,
Rewarding & Successful). MASTERS serves 1,600
low-income children and families each and every
school day (Monday-Friday, 3pm-6pm) by providing
homework assistance, enrichment activities,
recreation, and health and wellness activities and
education. We also provide dinner to all our
students.
Adult Services
Parenting Classes including;
Daddy ’ s Here
Practical Parenting
Taming Your Temper
Co-Parenting
Life Skills
Drug & Paternity Testing
CFF serves over 5,000 adults and children annually. Over 80% of the families served are considered low income.
920 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815
916.568.3237
www.cffsacramento.org
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