In 1974, pediatrician Wyman Sanders, MD, was shocked to discover Los Angeles County did not provide therapy to children who were victims of abuse and trauma. Dr. Sanders approached Bea Richstone for help, who provided $6,000 in seed money. Thus the Richstone Family Center was founded at the Hawthorne YMCA.
Fifty years later, the Richstone Family Center still provides child abuse treatment services but also offers a full array of in-house and partnership programs. The goal is to provide 360-degree holistic health services that include counseling, education and treatment to benefit children—and their families—to eradicate violence and the effects of generational trauma.
“We are dedicated to treating—and preventing—child abuse and trauma; strengthening and educating families; and preventing violence in families, schools and communities,” explained Richstone president and CEO Roger Van Remmen. “We have many programs now to provide comprehensive services—from mental health education to a host of family support initiatives—with the ultimate goal to foster healing, hope and resilience.”
Expanded Services
Richstone has grown exponentially since 1974, and last year the organization assisted 3,033 children and families. With that said, the need within Los Angeles County is “enormous.” At press time, there were more than 300 children and individuals waiting to receive services from Richstone.
“We are at capacity,” explained Van Remmen. “We have a wait list of over 300 people. It breaks my heart and destroys our clinical team to know there are so many in crisis.”
Children and victims of domestic violence experience extreme stress and anxiety that has a ripple effect on every aspect of their life, explains Van Remmen. The pressure they endure “is unbelievable and comes with dire health consequences.”
For instance, Van Remmen explained those who leave their abuser often don’t know where to go or where their next meal will come from. Children of abuse have an extremely hard time at school, as chronic worry and fear can hijack their minds and make it difficult to concentrate.
Van Remmen has been with Richstone since the 1980s and has been CEO and president for 11 years. During this time, he has witnessed the need for and success of additional programs created to better serve families. A holistic approach works, says Van Remmen, but requires multiple programs, individualized care, and expert assistance to treat the whole family and not just one individual.
“It’s important to understand you can work with a child one-on-one and have much success, but if you just work with the child and not with their family or community, it’s not enough. In the end, you’ll be sending the child back into the same environment and hoping for a better outcome. You must work with their whole family and community to create meaningful change and to break the intergenerational cycle of abuse. And that’s exactly what we do.”
Some Richstone services include mental illness therapy; anger management and domestic violence programs; home-visitation assistance for young mothers of children ages 1 to 5; nutrition and fitness classes; co-parenting classes; trauma recovery services; after-school tutoring and creative activities, and more.
To learn more, consider volunteering or donating—or asking your corporation if they’d like to get involved. Even a small amount might pay for a year of life-changing therapy for a child in need.
