Meet Laura Pahules of Arizonans for Children in Central Phoenix and Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Pahules.

Laura, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Arizonans for Children was founded in 2002 to provide services that improve the fragile lives of children in foster care. How can anyone read that and not want to be a part of this organization?

Vulnerable children and families have always been a driving force in my life. I have worked in the nonprofit world and in child welfare for years now and have been fortunate to land at Arizonans for Children where we make systemic changes that greatly improve these kids’ lives.

I started with Arizonans for Children as a Tutor/Mentor Outreach Coordinator, where I matched volunteers from the community to mentor school age children in foster care, for a child in care to have a mentor that spends 8 hours a month with them, it literally changes their lives. After 6 months of having a mentor 89% of the children we serve have improved in their grades, their attendance improves, their behavior improves but most importantly their self-worth and self-esteem improve. Can you guess what that percentage is after a year? After a year of having a mentor that spends 8 hours a month 100% of the foster children we serve have better grades, better attendance, better behavior and improved self-esteem and self-worth. 100%! This program changes lives and not just the child’s life but the volunteer as well.

After a few months I was moved into the position of Executive Director where I am today. Every day our Visitation Centers, our Supervised Visits Program as well as out Tutor/Mentor Program help families heal.

Has it been a smooth road?
My career path has not always been a smooth road. I have learned so much since I first started working in the nonprofit field. There are really fantastic agencies in the valley that do terrific work but my morals and ethics have caused me to move on from positions I have truly enjoyed. But I have taken the lessons I have learned to heart, moved on but allowed those lessons to help improve the culture of nonprofits.

I do feel as if I have found the best position at a fantastic agency with Arizonans for Children. The president and founder of Arizonans for Children, Kaye McCarthy is a volunteer. A brilliant woman that is as honest and upfront as I am myself. The agency has 6 1/2 staff when fully staffed, everything else is run by a community of fantastic volunteers. The agency isn’t funded by state or federal funds at all and when people make donations to Arizonans for Children 100% of the money goes to children’s programs, never to fundraising or advertising.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Arizonans for Children exists to facilitate opportunities and provide effective solutions to alleviate hardships and improve the fragile lives of the abused, abandoned, and neglected children in foster care. We are a small agency that has a large impact with two visitation centers, a Tutor/Mentor program and a variety of programs, classes and special events.

Our visitation centers allow children to spend time with their parents in a safe, fun and supervised environment.  This allows for happy and positive memories to be created to help heal any trauma the kids have suffered.  These visitation centers and set up like recreation centers or a family room in a home with books, games, toys, movies and deep comfortable sofa’s perfect for bonding.  Even if the children are never reunified permanently with their parents, our centers help them heal, help the family heal.  Our centers are run by our volunteers, people that want to make a difference in these kids’ lives.

Arizonans for Children has a Tutor/Mentor program that matches school age children with volunteers from the community as a Mentor for 8 hours a month and a 1 year commitment to the child.  Mentors pick the child up from the foster placement, most of the time a group home, and take them out in to the community to places like the library and park.  We encourage our Mentors to introduce as many life lessons as possible during their mentor/mentee time like how to count back change, how to order at a restaurant, when to say please and thank you etc. as most of the time there is no one to model these behaviors for the kids.

Arizonans for Children also has a variety of classes for kids in foster care such as cooking, financial literacy, arts & crafts and a STEM class that even allows the kids to take a fully functioning computer system with them at the end of the class!

We also have a Supervised Visitation program for when one biological parent may need to be supervised while spending time with their children. Trained interns supervise the visit documenting everything and completing a report that goes to the family court judge.

There are several things I am very proud of. I have a “Dream Team” of co-workers that are equally as passionate about helping families heal as I am.

Our Visitation Centers are welcoming, fun and safe environments where families can bond. Our STEM program called Arizonans for Children Pi-oneers is really amazing. Working in child welfare I became aware that many children in foster care do not have access to technology. How can they do their homework without a computer? My husband Peter an engineer at General Dynamics and I developed a program that introduces kids in foster care to technology utilizing Raspberry Pi technology. Raspberry Pi is a microcomputer about the size of a credit card.

Each Pi-oneer session is 2 hours and 4 classes long. During the classes we introduce the kids to basic programming and coding as well as internet safety and security. At the end of the 4th class the kids that have attended all 4 classes take the entire computer system with them! One 14 year old girl said “You mean I can finally do my homework?”

All of the programs for children in foster care at Arizonans for Children are provided for free. From our cooking classes, to budgeting and financial literacy classes to our Visitation Centers.

Not everyone can foster a child but with a few hours a month you can change the path these kids are following by volunteering with Arizonans for Children.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The Phoenix metropolitan area is the perfect place for Arizonans for Children. Our Phoenix Center is located at 11th Ave and Camelback right off the light rail.

The surrounding area is welcoming and full of wonderful restaurants and parks.

Pricing:

• Our services are provided for FREE to anyone in foster care.
• We are a qualifying agency for the AZ Foster Care Tax Credit.
• 100% of all donations go directly to children’s programs and special events.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1112 W. Camelback Road
  Phoenix AZ 85013
• Website: www.arizonansforchildren.org
• Phone: 480-295-6963
• Email: az4children.laura@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arizonansforchildren/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/az4children/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AZforChildren

Image Credit:
Carol Hagood

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