Landmarks for Families Inc

Family Education & SupportOur Family Education and Support programs aim to connect families, build support networks, and enhance social involvement. These programs help support children and families through relationship and skill-building, which are protective factors that contribute to thriving families. Services include Parent Education & Support, Summer Programs, After-School Programs, Teen Skill-Building, and Grief Support. These programs are offered in schools, at community facilities, or on one of our campuses. Landmarks for Families offers a variety of workshops, groups, and one-on-one support to caregivers and families seeking knowledge, support, and skill-building. Programs include: Strengthening Families Program: Partnering with Children's Trust of SC, Landmarks for Families is a local provider of the Strengthening Families Program (SFP) for families with children ages 6-16. The trengthening Families Program is a 14-session, weekly program. Each session typically lasts 1 hours and includes parents and children meeting separately to work with group leaders before coming together for shared activities. Participants who complete the 14-session program graduate in a celebratory style.These groups, held in community centers, schools, and churches, are designed to help families: >Develop positive discipline practices > Stay resilient in tough times> Reduce conflict> Improve parenting skills> Assist children with social skills, relationships, and school performanceAll of these factors play an important role in keeping families strong, safe, and connected while protecting them from behaviors that could result in potential abuse or neglect and adverse childhood experiences.Keep Connected Workshops & Groups:Keep Connected is a research-based, family engagement program that allows parents and teens to learn about positive family relationships during their transition to adolescence.Healthy, strong family relationships are foundational to young people's growth, learning, and well-being. These relationships build strong social and emotional foundations that teens will use throughout their lives. These relationships are important and take effort! Keep Connected workshops offer ideas, activities, and experiences that help build strong family relationships, tools to enhance positive family bonding, and new ways to stay connected as teens grow up. The workshops are for families of pre-teens and teens aged 10-17. Keep Connected workshops include time for:> Parents to explore challenges and strategies with other parenting adults> Youth to explore family relationships with other youth> Parents and youth to explore their relationships together> Strategies and tools to connect and build trust with their familiesEligibility: - All families of pre-teens or teens between the ages of 10 and 17.Freedom Schools Program (through 2025)In partnership with the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), Landmarks for Families has been a host of the Freedom Schools program. The CDF Freedom Schools program is a research-based, multicultural, summer literacy camp that provides an enriching curriculum that supports children and families around five essential components:1. High-quality academic enrichment2. Parent and family involvement3. Civic engagement and social action4. Intergenerational leadership development5. Nutrition, health, and mental healthThe Freedom Schools program fosters environments that support children and young adults (known as "scholars" in the CDF Freedom Schools program) to excel and believe in their ability to make a difference in themselves, their families, schools, communities, country, and world, with hope, education, and action.The Freedom Schools programs empower scholars to believe in their ability and responsibility to make a difference while instilling in them a love of reading to help them avoid summer learning loss. The program boosts student motivation to read, generates more positive attitudes toward learning, and connects the needs of children and families to the resources of their communities.Eligibility: - The Freedom Schools Summer Camp is open to K-12 students in the Lowcountry area.Youth Rise! Summer Program (Beginning 2026)Youth Rise! is a 6-week summer program that focuses on four core developmental pillars for youth placed in a Department of Social Services residential program. The four core pillars are:1. Academic SupportYouth involved in the child welfare system experience significant educational interruptions, often delaying their mastery to literacy and math concepts. Youth Rise! will provide individual academic support via a combination of direct "live" instruction and technology.2. Career DevelopmentBeginning with career assessments, each youth will create an individualized plan to propel them towards their chosen career path. These plans will include internships (both paid and voluntary), job skills (e.g., resume writing, completing applications, interview skills), if desired and appropriate, obtaining a summer job, and on-campus course options, such as Serve Safe, to improve their employability.3. Leadership DevelopmentYouth Rise! will explore with the youth the belief that everyone is a leader. The youth will practice speaking in public, both informally and formally, to improve their communication skills and confidence. As part of this module, youth will work through the 12 core values of West Point, which are characteristics of strong, successful leaders, using the book Character Carved in Stone by Pat Williams. 4. Life SkillsThe final module will address practical, hands-on skills such as cooking, property care, physical health and wellness, CPR and First Aid, Driver's Education, and more. Teen After-School Centers (TASC):Landmarks for Families partners with the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (SC DJJ) to host a community Teen After-School Center (TASC). This nationally recognized program is designed to improve youth social, emotional, and behavioral health while preventing involvement in the juvenile justice system and the likelihood of incarceration.The program offers structured time, engaging activities, and active supervision at the end of the school day. The goal is to create a safe, supportive after-school environment where youth can receive homework assistance, enjoy a healthy snack, interact with peers, and improve their overall well-being.TASC provides youth with many opportunities:> Visits to sporting events, state parks, libraries, and colleges> Educational support and after-school tutoring> Development of employability skills and job placement> Connection to positive adult role models> Spiritual development and recreation> Community service and victim restoration> Parenting groups and youth life skills development> Cooking, budgeting, and financial literacy> Conflict resolution and anger management> Gang prevention and intervention> Computer labs and instruction> Community garden and experiential learningSuccess Highways:Success Highways is a research-based, ScholarCentric program that helps students performing at all levels achieve greater academic success - including improved attendance, higher grades, more earned credits, and higher levels of resiliency. Success Highways teaches students how to overcome adversity and deal with academic and social pressures, helping them stay in school, score higher on achievement tests, and prepare for future education and adult life. Youth take part in individualized assessments and create their own personal success plans to empower them to reach their goals.The program has been used by school districts across the United States, enabling researchers to measure its efficacy in teaching the six social and emotional skills critical to academic achievement. During the program, students learn about these resiliency skills and build upon them to reach their goals. The six resiliency skills include:1. Valuing Education2. Health and Well-being3. Connectedness4. Academic Confidence5. Stress Management6. Intrinsic MotivationEligibility: Be of high school age and willing to commit to a six-week program.