Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Corbett.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Warrior for Children is a nonprofit organization in Upland, CA, whose mission is to support children, youth, and young adults navigating trauma both inside and outside of the foster care system. Their goal is to build resiliency, support healing, foster character, and develop leaders so that cycles are broken and trajectories are changed.
Warrior for Children was founded in 2018 by Jenn Corbett and Amanda Brady. Both are local to the area and have been actively involved in their community for years. Jenn is a registered nurse who specializes in child trauma. Following a coffee house conversation between the two of them and a discussion on how frustrated Jenn was with how we supported children navigating trauma in our county, Warrior for Children was born. Since its inception Warrior for Children has served more than 30,000 children in all four surrounding counties (Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside).
Warrior for Children serves children navigating trauma in three unique ways. Our first pillar is to provide tangible resources to children in acute trauma because we know that you cannot get to the work of healing if your basic needs are not met. Our second pillar is to provide trauma-informed education to those adults coming alongside these children. To support a child in their healing journey, you must first be equipped with the tools and knowledge to do so. Our third pillar is to provide small group and one-on-one mentorship to our 0–21-year population to help them assimilate back into the world after a traumatic event. We also work to provide them with character and leadership development so they have tools to use out in the world. We know that trajectories change for children navigating trauma when safe individuals and communities rally around them on their healing journey. We also know that children who have suffered acute or chronic trauma do not experience the world in the same way as a child who has not had these negative experiences. Our goal is to make sure our Warriors are met right where they are.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like any other business, nonprofit work has its ups and downs. We have struggled with limited resources, space, and funding. Each year has been different. Early on the challenge was space. Space to work and serve. As the years have gone on the challenges have revolved around the funding to have the personnel needed to fully execute the mission. Warrior for Children serves over 300 children and youth a month; we have 30+ partnerships. Serving everyone effectively takes manpower. It can be challenging to help the community see that we have to have people to serve the children the way they need to be served. People take revenue. We have been very fortunate that we have people who dedicate their time for free so that we can achieve the goals set, but ultimately, in order to fully meet objectives, we must have the personnel to do that.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Our founder, Jenn Corbett, has worked as an RN for over 26 years. She has dedicated her life to serving the women and children of our community. While running Warrior for Children, Jenn continues to work as an RN in the field of child trauma support. Jenn specializes in serving the 0-5 community by providing medical and developmental assessments, trauma-informed training, and legal nurse consulting. Jenn uses her decades of experience to support the child trauma community however she can.
What’s next?
Big Goal-Warrior for Children’s goal is to be able to support children and youth in every county in the United States. We believe that all children should have access to the same support the children living in Southern California do.
Contact Info:
- Website: warriorforchildren.org
- Instagram: @warriorforchildren
- Facebook: warriorforchildren1
