Recent Grants Help Mercer County At-Risk Youth Make More Positive Choices

Lawrenceville, NJ – November 3, 2014 – For nearly three decades, Lawrenceville-based nonprofit PEI Kids has delivered comprehensive Prevention, Education and Intervention programs aimed at keeping Mercer County children safe. Three recent grant awards, including $7,000 from the Church & Dwight Co. Inc. Employee Giving Fund (EGF), $28,725 from the City of Trenton Community Development Block Grant, and $17,500 from Janssen Pharmaceuticals will strengthen the agency’s Comprehensive Juvenile Offenders Outreach Services (CJOOS) program, which serves at-risk Mercer County youth on probation. This funding helps PEI Kids cover costs to run the program, which is free to participants and coordinated in close partnership with local law enforcement, the Mercer County Juvenile Probation Department, the Mercer County Family Court and Trenton schools.

Program Coordinator Rob Fiorello explains, “CJOOS is an evidence-based program with a very strong reputation for results. Our juvenile re-arrest rates are far below those of similar programs. Teens appreciate the positive atmosphere so greatly that they come back following graduation to be positive mentors to the younger kids.”

PEI Kids Executive Director Roz Dashiell thanks the Church & Dwight Co. Inc. EGF, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and the City of Trenton stating, “Their generous support is vital to the future of the CJOOS program which has proven its value by helping youth make positive choices, ultimately changing the trajectory of their lives. We are grateful to have these strong community supporters who value PEI Kids’ work and are committed to the future of Mercer County’s communities.”

About PEI Kids
For the past 29 years, PEI Kids’ mission has been dedicated to promoting and maintaining a safe environment for all children. PEI Kids’ aspiration for the children of Mercer County, NJ, is “Safe Kids, Sound Futures.” Currently serving approximately 16,000 children and their families each year, the nonprofit organization began in 1985 when, while working at a rape crisis center, its founders discovered there were no local services tailored for children who had been sexually abused. Since then, its services have expanded to include Prevention/ Education and Intervention programs relating to personal safety; physical and sexual abuse; understanding physical and educational differences; school safety and bullying; anger management; gang prevention; and the overall well-being of the child and family. PEI Kids is also the lead agency of the Greater Mercer Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse, and provides transportation and over 1,600 supervised visits each year for children in foster care and their families. To learn more about PEI Kids’ programs and services, and how you can support their efforts, please call 609-695-3739 or visit www.peikids.org. All calls regarding possible abuse are confidential.

About Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. manufactures and markets a wide range of personal care, household and specialty products under the Arm & Hammer brand name and other well-known trademarks.  The Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund is a workplace giving program. It was established in 2005 to support charitable organizations primarily in NJ and Eastern Pennsylvania, the region where their corporate headquarters are located and where many employees reside.

About City of Trenton’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program

The federal CDBG Program provides cities with funds to help meet the needs of low and moderate income residents, senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, and the homeless.  Trenton receives an annual CDBG allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for local use. These funds are used to support a variety of services and for community improvement.  Based on yearly needs assessments and community input documented in the 2010 Annual Action Plan, the City of Trenton makes decisions on how to spend CDBG funds in the community.  An estimated one out of every three residents in Trenton has benefited in some way from CDBG-funded projects and programs.