Eighty-seven percent of children and their families seen in our intensive counselling services in 2020 successfully met all of their treatment goals and completed services at Family Centre.

 

“Being able to discuss our inner feelings and emotions in a safe, caring environment opened many issues that needed to be addressed. My daughter felt like she had a voice and that someone really cared enough to make the time to listen and help. For the first time in years, we are closer as a family. Instead of just talking, we are listening and being sensitive towards each other. Our bond has grown due to the fact that we set aside more times on the weekend for ‘special gatherings.’ I feel so much closer because of the tools I was given during my time at Family Centre.”

One hundred percent of the surveyed graduating Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) youth in 2020 reported that the 5 year programme contributed to: their sense of self-worth, ability to make choices based on what is important to them, their accountability for their academic success, challenged their growth, exposed them to opportunities and pushed them to be at their best.

 

“YLA has been a major blessing in my son and daughter’s lives. It has kept them out of trouble and on the right track in school. Having the extra support from someone who is encouraging them to set goals and follow through with their work has helped more than I think you will ever know. I cannot do it all by myself and Family Centre has been that village that has provided the caring adults that go above and beyond for my child. At the beginning of the school year, my son set academic goals. However, not having a laptop and having to adjust to all the new COVID-19 rules affected him emotionally. I have seen so much improvement since Family Centre provided a laptop. My son’s confidence has increased, and he is more driven. His ability to communicate has also improved. My daughter had the opportunities to explore multiple careers she was interested in and got her current job due to the YLA Building My Future programme. There truly are no words I can use to express my gratitude for your programmes; they offer eye-opening experiences, teach youth how to and gain confidence in expressing themselves and they expose them to subjects that they do not learn about in school.”

A total of 79 High School students from CedarBridge Academy and The Berkeley Institute and 28 Dellwood Middle School students participated in the Beyond Rugby Bermuda programme in 2020.  83% of the High School students reported that Beyond Rugby provided them with an outlet that was helpful during the pandemic.  

 

“Other people are doing gang stuff because they have nothing to do. A way to prevent this is to have programmes like Beyond Rugby that involve the youth. At Beyond Rugby, people listen to you and are there for you. In the beginning, I was not passing some of my classes, but when I got help and time to do my work, I started to pass more classes. After participating in Beyond Rugby, I was picked for the National Squad, which allowed me to travel the world and see different cultures.”

The first local “Bermuda ACEs” (Adverse Childhood Experiences) research and White Paper was completed. The 2018-2020 research was conducted by co-principal investigators: Dr. Stephanie Guthman and Tara Hines jointly supported by Family Centre and Bermuda Health Council.  There were 700+ respondents to the research questionnaire.  The research is actively being used to raise awareness of individual experiences of ACEs and collective trauma in our community, how to assess for ACEs, and what prevention measures can be taken to prevent ACEs.