Angels of America’s Fallen is a 501(c)(3) formed to empower children of our fallen military, police, fire, and EMS heroes by engaging them in positive activities throughout their entire childhood. We support the children not just one time, but through a commitment to see them engaged positively in healthy activities such as sports, music, and other arts all year, every year, all the way through 18 years old without having to reapply. These provided activities have coaches or instructors who can help provide some positive mentoring the children are missing without the guidance and support of their fallen hero. We allow the children to try as many activities as required to find a passion that is a fit for them at their current stage of development, and they can change their activity as their interests vary while they grow. This allows them to develop their own personal identity, increase self confidence, and write their own story of success rather than growing up in the shadow of a hero. Although we cover the costs of their activities, our support is much more than just writing checks; we follow up with and encourage the children, and share in celebrating their successes throughout each year. This long term engagement is crucial for creating true lasting positive impact.
Over 425 children were supported in 2018. We have tracked and calculated how many positive interactions outside the home we have been able to provide the children we support. We call these activity sessions, and they comprise the number of times the children go to their activity for practice or performance. Over the past 6 years we have provided over 100,000 activity sessions, and average over 1,100 sessions monthly now. Our program is designed for impact. Through pre- and post – participation evaluations, our outcomes show a very positive trend. The parent’s assessment of their child as being outgoing increased by 115%, assessments of the child’s happiness increased by 60%, and their self-confidence increased by 55% after being enrolled. Middle school children’s reporting of their self-confidence measured a high level with a mean score 95.6 out of 100.
