Triangle Family Services CEO Alice Lutz
TRIANGLE FAMILY SERVICES
PHOTO BY SDI PRODUCTIONS/GETTY IMAGES
919.821.0790 | tfsnc.org
FOR THE CHILDREN FIVE NONPROFITS HELPING LOCAL KIDS LIVE HEALTHIER LIVES BY ELIZABETH BRIGNAC
D
espite the Triangle’s well-known status as a family-friendly place to live, some children who live here struggle. According to 2020 data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Data Center, more than 21,000 children in Wake County
lived below the poverty line at that time, and almost 800 cases of child abuse were reported and substantiated that year. (This number was down from 1,320 reported cases in 2019, possibly due to COVID keeping children at home and not in schools or other places where any signs of abuse could be observed and reported.) Because children have no power to advocate for themselves, kids need adults looking out for them at every level, from their families, friends and schools, to broader social and governmental entities. A variety of organizations have emerged to support Triangle-area children through different types of challenges. Here, we profile five nonprofit organizations that protect and enhance the lives of children in our area.
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Triangle Family Services (TFS) has been providing families in crisis with assistance for 85 years. The organization offers 14 different programs related to family safety, mental health and financial stability. TFS addresses problems that, as CEO Alice Lutz puts it, “no one wants to talk about.” Last year, for example, TFS’s Time Together Center supervised 622 visits between children and parents with whom the center’s staff had restricted access. Mike Zayas, who, several years ago, required supervised visits with his children after a traumatic brain injury, credits the center for preserving his relationship with them. “We were playing dominoes. We were playing video games … Whatever room we’d get, we had a good time,” he says. “It became so very, very close to regular for me and my kids that when the judge allowed [unsupervised visitation], the kids were ready.” Assisting homeless families is another important TFS service. Last year, the organization helped 248 formerly homeless people, including 45 children, move into permanent housing. Other examples of TFS services include reaching out to families living on the street, domestic violence intervention and anger management training. TFS hopes to add a staff member to help families apply for disability benefits and a health care worker to diagnose homeless clients’ medical needs. In addition to financial donations to TFS, Lutz says the organization’s homeless clients benefit from donations of water, blankets, socks, hygiene kits and warm clothes.
