The
April Chandler
foundation.
our mission.
Our vision is a world where all children have a safe and loving family.
It’s On with April Chandler’s Talk Show uses the power of conversation to create awareness of important issues. April’s charity then takes action to address the problems on the ground.
We engage in disadvantaged communities and help young people in, or leaving, care, forgotten by society, and facing issues such as homelessness, human trafficking, and abuse, to improve their education, physical and mental health, self-esteem and future outcomes.
We promote and improve the wellbeing of children by providing resources to enhance relationships and reduce conflict for children and families navigating the state care system.
Why we exist.
to change the status quo.
The April Chandler Foundation exists to end institutional care and improve the state care system by changing family law utilizing the vehicles of education, communication, legislation and litigation. Current practice ineffectively reflects modern day social and legal trends, resulting in significant harm to families, relationships and society. State and federal policies and the legal system have failed the Forgotten children growing up in unproductive, unhealthy environments.
Children are arbitrarily separated from their parents (and often their siblings) and raised by personnel who are paid to care for them, and who usually work shifts
Large numbers of unrelated children live together in the same building or compound
The child does not have the opportunity to form a healthy emotional attachment to one or two primary caregivers
The setting is isolated from the broader community and is distinctly identifiable as being outside the broader community (by the use of high walls or fences, barbed wire, guards on the gate, provision of school on site, inter alia)
Contact with the birth and extended family is not actively encouraged or supported, and is at times discouraged
Care is generally impersonal and the needs of the organization come before the individual needs of the child
This often leads to a range of neglectful behaviors on the part of personnel (eg., children are not fed sufficiently, babies are left in soiled diapers for long periods) and the use of restrictive or dangerous measures to control children’s behavior (such as severe physical punishment, tying up children or the use of psychotropic drugs, inter alia).
Institutions for children include, but are not restricted to:Orphanages
Any residential settings for babies and very young children
Residential special schools
Large children’s homes
Centers for unaccompanied migrant/refugee children
Social care homes (adults and children with disabilities housed together)
Secure units
Psychiatric wards
Pediatric wards (long stay)
Prisons/juvenile detention
"If we focus on inspiring the younger generations
with positive experiences, we won’t have to reprimand them
when they are older through the Criminal Justice System.”
APRIL CHANDLER
Founder & Lifetime President
what we do.
Youth participation means the empowerment of children and young people to be decision-makers in their own lives, leaders in their communities, and to have a voice in policymaking. This requires a shift in power, and an acknowledgement of their important contributions. We actively support self-advocates who raise their voices on behalf of children around the world.
The benefits of meaningful youth engagement are wide-reaching. Youth engagement helps young people develop a range of skills such as team work, negotiation and communication strategies. It also increases their confidence in the services designed to support them.
For policymakers and service providers, effective policies and services must incorporate the needs and ideas of children and young people. They are experts on their own lives, and can work together with their families and professionals to decide what support they need. This includes children and young people with disabilities who are often excluded from decision-making, but whose perspectives and contributions are invaluable.
Involving children and young people in advocacy and campaigns brings to life the issues being addressed. Their contributions often encourage policymakers to give greater priority to particular issues, and can therefore bring about more targeted and effective policies and services in the future. Enabling young people to lead their own campaigns ensures the issues that are important to them are brought to light.
Our Motto:
Meet someone new.
Try something new.
Visit somewhere new.
how we do it.
We work directly with children and young people throughout the deinstitutionalization process: from family tracing to preparing children to move from institutions to family life, to supporting them in their new homes. It is critical that children and young people are included in decision-making about all aspects of their lives, from choosing their own clothes to sharing opinions about their care. We provide training and support on child-centered practice to professionals and those providing care.
We develop professional, creative, convincing, relevant and high-impact messaging to increase attention in mainstream media, the public, government and social sectors. Ensure more equitable outcomes that celebrate the diversity and needs of all family members and protect & restore parent-child relationships. We create credible and accessible resources to help young people and adults learn to have effective interpersonal and conflict resolution skills. We have developed the web’s most trusted state care system knowledge base.
programs & services.
wonder camps.
April set up Wonder Camps to add wonder to children’s lives and introduce them to healthy eating and various sporting activities like surfing, abseiling, mountaineering, military games, fitness that they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to.
The behavioral problems that we have amongst teenagers in western society, especially boys is no surprise given that they do not eat enough nutritious food or attend enough physical activity sessions, or healthy sporting competitions to curb their natural instincts. Inspiring and coaching teenagers to show them their true potential is fundamental to rebuilding our broken society.
Healthy food and deliberate exercise and physically demanding activities improves focus, discipline, changes behavior to a more positive, happy outlook due to the good feel hormones, and ensures respect is learned and maintained in all aspects of their lives. Teenage depression is at an all time high, which can be easily rectified by increasing their activity and changing their eating habits. The less you do, the less you want to do.
It’s important that we teach children why they feel a certain way when they don’t exercise, yet feel amazing and happy when they do exercise and eat good quality nutritious food on a regular basis.
Wonder Camps are not “Fit Camps” and not just about health and fitness, but about adding wonder to children’s lives, as children, just like adults, need weekend breaks and vacations that will change their outlook and lives for the better, and give them hope of a fulfilling future full of love, wonder, success and happiness.
Step 1: Inner city children travel by coach to the countryside for a weekend Wonder Camp. Part of the problem in society is that poorer, disadvantaged children stay within a square mile of their home and school, are bored out of their minds, and find it hard to believe they have a bright, interesting future ahead of them as they haven’t seen or experienced a different environment for themselves.
Step 2: Inner city children travel by train to the seaside for a week Wonder Camp. It’s hard to believe in this day and age that a lot of children haven’t even visited The White House or been on a school trip, no wonder experienced a train ride or felt the sand between their toes, or had a dip in the sea.
Step 3: Inner city children travel by plane for a two week Wonder Camp. For a lot of us, traveling around the world, seeing all the amazing wonders, experiencing different cultures and meeting new and wonderful people is part of our daily lives and we couldn’t imagine it changing and being forced to stay in the area that we live in, permanently grounded, unable to be inspired by all the amazing opportunities out there, however, for disadvantaged children, that is the harsh reality, they don’t experience any of the fabulous wonders in this world because they can’t afford to, yet their behavioral problems and lack of hope for the future ends up costing the Country much more because a lot of these children end up in trouble and consequently, the prison system.
Have you ever come back from a new and interesting place and not felt inspired, de-stressed, happy and motivated to improve your life? Of course not. You are full of beans and ready to take on the world. That’s exactly what happens to children too. They don’t come back the same. They can’t stand around doing nothing on the same street corner with their friends like they did before they travelled. Their eyes have been opened to the possibilities. They have hope burning inside of them and a vision of a fantastic future. Once experienced, this can’t be undone.
By providing good food, activities, fun, positivity and wonder to every child, is what will change the future of our world. If April had her way, every child in elementary school would go to the countryside, into the mountains for hiking, skiing and participate in water and beach sports at the beach, continuing these trips throughout middle school and high school. Governments are not capable of doing this alone and need organizations, schools and parents to get behind this initiative and ensure it’s rolled out across the whole of the planet to the benefit of all children.
The heart that gives is always full.
outreach.
April set up The April Chandler Foundation to support other charities that are doing amazing work within the realm of human trafficking, slavery and to improve the conditions on the ground of the most vulnerable globally, but also to directly impact the care systems around the world, which has become a multi billion dollar business, but unfortunately, the children have been Forgotten and tax payers money is rarely spent on the children in the system to improve their outcomes, and requires intervention.
We bring together a diverse group of people (volunteers, staff, partners, advisors) to meet the needs of children/families in crisis, seeking policies to end institutional care; protecting children from growing up without parents; suicide prevention; personal & parenting effectiveness; & mental health support.
We provide practical on-line and in-person information and resources, and/or provide trusted referrals, and partner with other organizations.
how you can help.
Please consider contributing your time, talents, and/or donations to help further our
mission and/or purchase merchandise from our store. This is a worthy cause for children.
All donations are tax-deductible, as The April Chandler Foundation is an official non-profit with the State of California, and filing is underway as 501 (c)3 with IRS.
Giving to others is important to April and if it’s important to you too, maybe you’d like to make a difference to your own life, as well as make a huge difference to children’s lives too and get involved with The April Chandler Foundation or April’s Wonder Camps, adding wonder, adventure, storytelling, entrepreneurship, fun, happiness and hope to disadvantaged children around the world.
April would love to hear from you if you can assist in any way. Every child deserves a loving home and an opportunity to build a bright future for themselves.
Get behind what April is doing and get in touch today!
