How We Make an Impact

The work of the Arizona Sunshine Angels benefits the Phoenix metro area by providing emotional and practical support to at-risk youth, during their critical adolescent years, who statistically are highly prone to experiencing homelessness, drug abuse, gang affiliation, unplanned pregnancy, unemployment, criminal activity, and incarceration after they leave the foster care system. All of those unfortunate events add to the crime and poverty in our communities and whose cost is ultimately borne by the taxpayers. There are approximately 14,000 children in Arizona in the foster care system currently, the majority of them reside in the Phoenix metro area.

The Angels’ intervention into these young people’s lives is making a difference in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.

While there are 700 children living in residential home facilities that are served at any given time, children constantly transition in and out. Approximately 1,000 children transition in and out each year. (The average length of state is 15 months.) Since 1999 the Arizona Sunshine Angels have made personal contact with many of the children that come and go through group homes. They have reached out to make a difference in the lives of approximately 20,000 children during that time.

Currently the Arizona Sunshine Angels work in concert with 12 residential group home agencies around the Valley of the Sun, to provide kids in foster care with additional support, care and love to help them in their young lives. These kids are rescued by the Department of Child Safety (DCS) and placed in their foster group homes until a more permanent solution can be found for them. They were removed from family, friends and live as they know it, for their own protection. In spite of abuse, neglect or abandonment, these remarkable children are still able to face each day with hope. These residential homes are among the many group home agencies providing foster care for children, through a clean, safe and structured environment.