Let’s Help the Children is a non-profit organization founded by Sandra M. Szilva of Somerset, New Jersey. Start-up work for her dream foundation has been underway for the past three years. The foundation’s purpose is to bring aid to abused mothers and their children.

Our organization which is built on the promise that all mothers, fathers and children would never again have to be subjected to the ruthless physical and mental torment of abuse brought on by violence in the home. Specifically, one organization goal is to provide temporary housing in which parents and their children would be safe to live mentally, physically and emotionally, and work to get back to a stable life within the community after such abuse has taken place.

The additional purpose of this program is to help diminish the resulting hopelessness, low self-esteem and self-worth because of such abuse. Currently when this type of abuse occurs, children and parents are removed from the home and set up in short term state-funded housing. But due to the shortage of such housing and high demand the victims have to move back into their old unsafe environment after a 2 month time frame.

Our program will help these parents get a new start, by housing them and their children in a safe and secure environment for rehabilitation, for as long as necessary. We would provide them with housing to which day care would be provided as well as home structure, and the parent would not have to worry about them being safe while they are focusing on getting their lives back on track. These parents would have to be working in order to live in this housing.

Let’s Help the Children plans to grow with enough support to reach children throughout the state of New Jersey and into the Pennsylvania and New York as well. Operations of the foundation are based on the donations and charitable support of New Jersey residents and major corporations. Let’s Help the Children will not only use donations toward the purchase of material necessities for the kids but plans bigger events such as out of town field trips as well.

Szilva’s aim is to provide memorable experiences for these children that they otherwise would never have due to the constraints of their challenging living conditions.