CHILDREN AT RISK honored for helping improve quality of life for children
HOUSTON - One in four children in Texas is food insecure, and that number is rising due to the lack of resources since the pandemic. A local research and advocacy nonprofit called Children at Risk is helping solve this complex issue.
"With the pandemic, you have a lot of trauma mental health-wise. I think the idea is that we want to make sure we give support to those groups that are working. The state may not be giving the financial support but there are alot of ways that we can support these groups so that they can help kids. It is short-sided for us not to think about kids and what that future means. For us it is like how do we do this round of applause for everybody," said Dr. Bob Sanborn, CEO of Children at Risk.
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Dr. Sanborn and evening anchor Rashi Vats emceed the Texas Academy Awards of Child Advocacy to help honor the people and organizations trying to improve the quality of life for children.
"Many of these families come from many impoverished backgrounds. They have made a very difficult journey and made the way here for whatever reason. We want to make them feel welcomed into the healthcare system. So we take care of their needs," said Dr. Glenn Fennelly, one of the recipients. He is with Texas Tech University Health Sciences El Paso and runs pediatric clinics along the border.
Pauline Beckley, another recipient, is the Principal Coach for School Improvement at Alief ISD.
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"Post pandemic we are seeing gaps in student learning and so therefore our goal is to shore up those gaps as quickly as we possibly can so that our students can be successful in the STAAR test and in general successful in their academic classes," said Pauline Beckley, another recipient, who is the Principal Coach for School Improvement at Alief ISD.
To learn more about Children At Risk, click here.