Champions for Children Awards Grantees Funds for 2025
Countdown to World Mental Health Day Event Raises $95,000 to fund three nonprofits to continue work on behalf of children’s mental health
Champions for Children President Paula Widerlite with honoree Dr. Joyce Harrison
It was an evening of compassion and education as supporters gathered at the Mansion at Strathmore for Champions for Children's Countdown to Mental Health Day September 30. The night raised more than $95,000 to support local organizations that provide mental health services to children and youth.
During the event compelling advocates for children and three local organizations that provide services to children coping with mental health issues were recognized.
Champions for Children is a volunteer, local nonprofit network of women who seek to raise awareness about childhood mental health issues. It also raises funds for children struggling with them to learn, grow and thrive according to the group’s leader, Avenel resident Paula Widerlite.
Increasing global insecurity, rising performance expectations, natural disasters and other events and circumstances can stress everyone but especially children and teens who may have less tools available to deal with difficult emotions, Widerlite says. Champions seeks to fund groups that serve to build children’s emotional toolkits.
Champions for Children awarded three local organizations grants to continue their work on behalf of children’s mental health. They are:
Safe Shores. For 30 years, Safe Shores provides survivor-centered services and support for children affected by abuse and works to end child abuse and neglect. It’s the only organization in the Washington metropolitan area to offer prevention and treatment services for sufferers of physical and sexual abuse using a multidisciplinary approach and community outreach to offer hope to victims.
Morgan’s Message. Morgan’s Message strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student athlete community, equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics and create safe spaces to discuss mental health challenges. The organization was founded following the tragic 2019 suicide of a Duke University student athlete.
The Lourie Center. Founded in 1982, the Lourie Center for Children's Social & Emotional Wellness is a private, nonprofit agency affiliated with Adventist HealthCare. Its mission is to improve the social and emotional health of young children and their families through prevention, early intervention, education, research and training.
Champions for Children also recognized Dr. Joyce Harrison, a nationally recognized child and adolescent psychiatrist; Maryland State Delegate Jamila Woods, a tireless champion for equitable school-based mental health policies; and Stroll magazines for our coverage and support.
Award recipient Del. Jamala Woods broke into song in accepting her award. Resplendent in a red suit decorated with sequins, Woods’ impromptu performance movingly conveyed her passion for children’s emotional health and wellbeing.
Woods emphasized the importance of early intervention and education. Woods described her youth in foster care and how she overcame abuse to earn multiple degrees and serve as a state legislator committed to improving the lives of children experiencing mistreatment.
Woods was recognized for her work advancing groundbreaking legislation to ensure children across Maryland have access to safe, supportive, and responsive mental health care in schools and communities. Her work brings hope, resources, and real solutions to youth struggling with their mental health.
Joyce Harrison, an infantile and preschool psychologist at the Center for Developmental Behavioral Health at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, received the group’s Outstanding Child Mental Health Clinician Award. An associate professor of psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Harrison also is a nationally recognized expert and advocate for youth mental health care through compassion, clinical excellence, and advocacy.
Harrison said it’s important to equip families and caregivers with the education and resources to help children experience and regulate difficult emotions in a healthy manner. She applauded Champions’ work to raise awareness of and focus on the needs of young children. “Early identification and intervention can literally change the course of a child’s life,” Harrison says. “We must keep raising our voices against the frightening trend of shrinking services for these children and their families.”
For more information on Champions for Children, visit www.championsforchildren.org.