GREENFIELD — The Easthampton-based Treehouse Foundation is launching a new Treehouse HEROES@GCC program at Greenfield Community College (GCC) to support Franklin County’s foster children, thanks to state grant funding.
According to a Treehouse Foundation press release, the organization secured the first year of a three-year grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, $300,000 of which will support the expansion of its HEROES Youth Leadership Program to Greenfield.
Judy Cockerton originally founded the Treehouse Foundation after learning that nearly 40 percent of the state’s 10,000 children and youth in foster care live in Western Massachusetts. The organization focuses on foster care, adoption, affordable housing and vital aging in the region.
In the intergenerational Treehouse Community, established in 2006, families adopting children from foster care live next door to elders (ages 55 and up) who become “honorary grandparents.” This intentional neighborhood is home to more than 120 people, ranging in age from newborns to 93, the release states.
“Our intergenerational community enhances the lives of three generations, tapping into the talents, skills and wisdom of older adults to create opportunities for elders to lift up our younger generations,” Cockerton said.
In addition to serving young people living in the Treehouse Community, the foundation has run a HEROES Youth Leadership Program since 2011, supporting teens and young adults ages 14 to 24 who have experienced foster care in the Pioneer Valley. According to the release, when a child enters the foster care system, his or her future is more likely to have significant challenges, especially if that child moves from family to family.
Thanks to the grant funding, there will now be a Treehouse HEROES program for teens and young adults in Franklin County who have experienced foster care.
Treehouse HEROES@GCC will meet at the college campus to focus on youth leadership, community service, intergenerational connection, arts and outdoor experiences, according to the release. The location will allow youth to experience life on a college campus, exposing them to other students, staff and faculty. Ultimately, the foundation hopes to increase the number of youth who’ve experienced foster care who then graduate from college, a figure that is currently at only 2 percent.
Additionally, older adults will volunteer in the program, continuing Treehouse’s commitment to the power of intergenerational programming.
“Our new partnership with the Treehouse Foundation affords us the opportunity to introduce young people, who might not otherwise have been exposed, to college culture while expanding volunteer opportunities for our growing population of older adults,” said GCC President Yves Salomon-Fernandez. “We are fortunate to have visionary people like Judy Cockerton creating these opportunities for our most deserving youth.”