Tidewater Youth Services Foundation - Who We Are

Making a Difference – One Youth at a Time 

In the now-familiar story, a man happens upon a boy on the beach, earnestly picking up starfish that have washed up with the tide and tossing them back into the ocean.  

“Little boy,” says the man. “There are miles and miles of beach and thousands of starfish that have washed up. You can’t possibly make that much difference.” 

Undeterred, the boy picks up another starfish and throws it into the sea.  

“It makes a difference to that one,” he says. 

Our work at Tidewater Youth Services Commission and Tidewater Youth Services Foundation is like that. We may not be able to save every troubled youth. But how wonderful it is when those we touch become whole, productive and grateful young men and women who contribute positively to their families and communities.  

You’ll meet some of them here, but first an overview of who and what we are: 

Tidewater Youth Services Foundation is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization that is a sister organization and philanthropic arm to Tidewater Youth Services Commission The Commission provides a full spectrum of community-based services to help youth who are involved, or are at-risk of becoming involved, with the juvenile and domestic relations courts.  

The Commission has a dedicated staff and excellent programming. It is well-recognized throughout southeastern Virginia for the quality of its services – but as a public agency, financial challenges are an ever-present reality.

Enter Tidewater Youth Services Foundation. Established in 1991 as the charitable partner to the Commission, we are able to touch the lives of children in ways not possible through state support alone. With community support we can: 

• offer remedial education programs and provide the tools needed for vocational exploration;
• provide therapeutic recreation and positive activities, and expose children to the arts and cultural enrichment;
• improve the physical environments of group homes;
• support programming that would otherwise be eliminated or could not be developed due to a lack of, or loss of, public funding.
• address the needs of youth in crisis, providing clothing, medication, and other personal items;
• help with family emergencies, including the loss of utilities or eviction – events that destabilize families and compound a child’s problems.

 

At Tidewater Youth Services Commission and Foundation, we are diligently picking up all the starfish we can – one by one – and tossing them back into the ocean. With your help, we can save one more. And one more …  

Won’t you help?