The Teddy Bear Program
Almost everyone has fond and loving memories of theirs or their children's favorite cuddly teddy bear that provided warmth and security. In the hands of an abuse center counselor, policeman, fireman, or emergency room worker, cuddly teddy bears are powerful tools to provide that same warmth and security to a traumatized child in crisis. What better tool to quickly build trust and calm in a child so that crisis services can be provided?

Over the past ten years, the Desert Outreach Foundation's Teddy Bear Program has provided over 6,000 teddy bears to local child abuse centers, hospital emergency rooms, and police/firefighters enabling them to provide comfort to thousands of children in crisis. The Desert Outreach Foundation volunteers personally deliver Teddy Bears in April, in recognition of National Child Abuse Awareness Month, and again during the Holiday Season to the following local facilities:
Child Protective Services (CPS)-Desert Region: The primary governmental agency responsible for providing protection from child abuse. In each of the last 5 years, the Desert Region has reported about 1,000-1,500 instances of substantiated occurrences of child abuse. CPS, along with its local community partners, the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center, Shelter from the Storm, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children, JFK Healthy Family Living Foundation, and Olive Crest Homes and Services for Abused Children, provide treatment services for abused children as well as preventive services for high risk families where child abuse is likely to occur.

Barbara Sinatra Children's Center: Provides more direct counseling programs for abused children in the Valley than any other organization. The Center counsels about 700 children annually on an outpatient basis.

Shelter from the Storm: Coachella Valley's only dedicated provider of emergency and adjunctive services to abused women and children where domestic violence has occurred. The emergency Shelter provides safety, counseling, and legal and social service advocacy to about 500 women and children annually.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children: CASA is a national advocacy program that serves as a voice in court for abused children requiring foster care. Currently about 8,000 children in Riverside Count are in foster care.

JFK Healthy Family Living Foundation: This Foundation is the primary organization in the Valley providing services to high risk families to prevent child abuse. CPS refers as many as 1,100 cases annually to the JFK Foundation whose responsibility is to conduct in-home reviews to determine what services are needed to prevent reoccurrence of child abuse.

Olive Crest Homes and Services for Abused Children: Provides housing as well as counseling and treatment programs for children who have been removed from their homes because of child abuse. Currently, four housing units house 6 children each with a foster parent assigned to each home.

Betty Ford Center's Children Program: Provides counseling services for children from alcoholic/drug addicted families. This is primarily a program to prevent the addictive life style from reaching the child as well as to prevent abuse or neglect of the child.

Desert Regional Medical Center, Eisenhower Medical Center, JFK Memorial Hospital, Local Police/Fire Departments: Hospital emergency rooms and police/firemen utilize the Foundation's Teddy Bears to provide comfort to children in a stressful situation.
Won't you do your part today to help the Desert Outreach Foundation to continue to provide these services?
To make a donation, simply click the Donate Now button below.
Desert Outreach Foundation IRS 501(c)(3) Tax ID #91-1940047
1775 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Suite 110, Palm Springs, CA 92264
Telephone: 760-864-1234 Email: info@desertoutreachfoundation.org