Children at The Ark resting easy thanks to ‘Day of Giving’

Getting a good night’s rest has become easier for children at The Ark Assessment Center and Emergency Shelter for Youth, thanks to funds received through its participation in the 2014 Coastal Bend Day of Giving. Among other purchases, the shelter was able to buy new mattresses for all of the children’s beds at the nonprofit agency.

“The mattresses have really made a big difference in the children’s quality of sleep,” Delma Trejo, The Ark’s executive director/administrator, said. “They are tossing and turning a lot less and are sleeping more soundly.”

The purchases marked the first time the mattresses had ever been replaced at the facility that cares for children removed from their homes by Child Protective Services, a division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, due to abuse or neglect by a parent or guardian.

As a result, the children got to experience what it feels like to sleep on a brand new mattress – perhaps some for the first time in their lives – all because of the public’s online donations and the matching funds provided by South Texas donor foundations in the sixth annual Coastal Bend Day of Giving.

The Ark, which received its state license to provide assessment services and emergency shelter on Dec. 29, 1999, admitted its first resident on April 7, 2000. The number of children served as of Dec. 31, 2014 was 2,879. That figure is projected to reach 3,000 later this year.

Up to 37 minors, ages 0 through 17, receive everything needed for their well-being for up to 90 consecutive days while they are assessed for placement in an appropriate long-term site. More information is available at the agency’s website: www.ark4kids.com

The shelter is one of 40 nonprofit organizations that will participate in the seventh annual Coastal Bend Day of Giving on Nov. 10, 2015. The event is administered by the Coastal Bend Community Foundation.