Directions for Youth and Families (DFYF), one of the 2020 Five Nonprofits to Watch at The Columbus Foundation, is a resiliency-oriented, trauma-informed agency with roots in Columbus. Its programs address some of the most difficult situations a child might experience - domestic violence, sexual abuse, physical abuse or neglect, grief, and loss. 

Your support of this Better Together project will help provide resiliency kits, an important tool in the healing process. Resiliency kits help youth develop safe and effective strategies to manage and work through emotional responses. The kits, individualized to the client's needs, consist of creative supplies and sensory items such as books, journals, stress balls, and stuffed animals that clients can use to center themselves while experiencing toxic emotions. They are helpful in developing resilience and overcoming the damaging effects of trauma, and are needed today more than ever as we face the ongoing challenges of isolation and the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Therapeutic supplies are more important than ever as we engage and focus young clients with interactive activities during their online therapy sessions. These kits are truly a key part of our resiliency toolbox."

— DFYF Clinical Counselor

Dating back to 1899, DFYF serves thousands of local youth and their families each year by providing emotional, mental, and behavioral health services. The challenges of 2020 hurt those served at a greater rate, and are heightened by stress, anxiety, isolation, and confusion among children as well as adults. Though the pandemic has not interrupted its work, DFYF has had to adapt its services by offering counseling through telehealth, telephone, and any other vehicle available. Therapy, or “resiliency,” kits are an instrumental piece of support during these virtual sessions.

Support for this Better Together campaign will provide the tools children need to build resilience.

We are Better Together!