“Our mission is pretty straightforward,” said Sarah Stonehill, a graduate of the Senators Community Foundation (SCF). “We raise awareness of child abuse, including shaken baby syndrome, safe havens for newborns, animal cruelty and its connection to abuse, and human trafficking.”     

SCF has a great blend of activities.  “It all starts with our public awareness and activism,” said Tyler Calder, a graduate of SCF.  “Activities include silent vigils, the Stuffed Animal Project, street outreach, a cabaret show, House Parties, the Pennies Project, sidewalk chalking, body art photos, classroom presentations, the Crayon Project and a ton of others.” 

It continues with our volunteer work with children who have experienced or witnessed abuse.  “Every week of the school year,” said Sarah, “we travel to Kids in Crisis and Domestic Abuse Services in Greenwich to do homework with children, play games, or just hang out and talk.  And once a month we host fun group activities for children from Domestic Abuse Services and the Department of Children and Families.  Those are just three of the organizations that have benefited from the $60,000 in grants we have awarded since 2003.”

But it’s the social change campaigns that distinguish us from other youth groups in Connecticut.  “This is a tricky road,” said Tyler.  “It’s like taking two steps forward and one step back.  Progress is usually stretched out over several months, if not years.  Take our Safe Santa Project with the U.S. Postal Service.  It took us two years to convince the postal service to strengthen its policies and procedures for reviewing Dear Santa letters from children.  It took us 18 months to convince the Norwalk Board of Education to strengthen its policies about adults who volunteer in schools.”

Tyler continued.  “We’re still working on the Connecticut Department of Public Health.  Did you know that the adults who work or volunteer in camps that are licensed by the department do not have to pass national criminal background checks?  Our latest social change initiative – Connecticut Talks – urges pediatricians to ask every teen patient about Connecticut safe haven law for newborns.  And on the horizon is an initiative with veterinarians and the Department of Children and Families about the reporting of animal abuse cases.”