ChildBuilders

ChildBuilders is a nonprofit organization specializing in prevention and the promotion of mental health in children. Our programs provide the knowledge and skills needed to recognize and prevent child maltreatment and trauma. We prepare children to navigate life’s challenges by teaching them to be assertive, resilient, and empathetic.
Our vision is to foster an environment where children are respected, nurtured, and protected. We believe this is done by reaching the child, parents, and professionals. We reinforce and strengthen the message by cultivating a supportive community. ChildBuilders staff trains individuals to present our programs to youth and follow up with parents upon completion of the program.

Our mission focuses on preventing trauma and abuse by teaching children, in pre-kindergarten through high school, how to protect themselves and each other from bullying, internet dangers, abuse, neglect, and relationship violence, while empowering parents and teachers to keep their children and communities safe. Our three-tiered approach to primary prevention offers cost-effective, sustainable education and awareness solutions for training school personnel, community volunteers, and parents to help Houston’s youth to 1) identify and avoid unsafe situations, 2) develop empathy and strong decision-making skills, and 3) establish and maintain healthy relationships now and in the future. We serve all children and families in the Greater Houston area, believing that every child can benefit from the training we provide.

Through our effective train-the-trainer model, we offer teachers and school personnel training in our curricula during professional development days offered by school districts. Once trained, teachers, school personnel and other trusted adults in schools, and youth-focused institutions can use these tools to present our programs and continue to follow-up with students and parents. In this way, vital messages for children are reinforced and strengthened throughout an informed and supportive community. Additionally, we provide workshops to community-based organizations and parents throughout the year. The ChildBuilders team is available to districts, schools and community partners for consultation, as needed. We have carefully developed and evaluated these programs to ensure they impart the skills children and adolescents need to identify and avoid unsafe situations, to develop resilience, empathy and strong decision-making skills, and to establish and maintain healthy relationships.

Last year, we reached nearly 20,000 children and adults in collaboration with 70 schools through the following major programs and services: Stand Strong, Stay Safe (personal safety education); Relationships Smarts Plus (healthy relationship education); Parents Under Construction (positive parenting preparation); and Build to Nurture (social and emotional learning).

In addition to this, we have described the significant changes within our organization throughout the last year:
• The pandemic precluded our ability to continue in-person train-the-facilitator trainings, bringing continued uncertainty to our programs. To continue providing services to our community, we poured resources into changing our program strategy to accommodate distance learning.
• Also, we have redesigned and redeveloped organization’s website and included a robust online learning system to house ChildBuilders’ educational materials.
• Our safety education program Stand Strong • Stay Safe is now offered in three age-appropriate versions: Early Childhood for Pre-K through 1st Grade, Lower Elementary for 2nd and 3rd Grades, and Upper Elementary for 4th and 5th Grades.
• In response to presenters need, we produced and piloted a series of student-facing videos that can be used to teach Stand Strong Stay Safe asynchronously.
• We developed 4 successful parenting webinars to address the impact of COVID covering the following topics: parenting and mental health, parenting and mindfulness, parenting and trauma, and parenting with empathy.
• This year, one hundred percent of the Board are donors and every board member increased their individual giving over previous years.
• Our board is more engaged by participating in events, implementing fundraising strategies, and securing funding or in-kind donations.
• We have made an effort to recruit board members representing greater diversity, and succeeded in expanding the ethnic diversity on our board this year.
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