About Us
What would you give to change the life of a child?
Schools in the Riverside County Office of Education and Moreno Valley Unified School District, like public schools all over the country, operate on a tight budget, preventing them from addressing the unique cultural and mental health needs of their students.
Faculty, counselors and administrators lack the resources to develop comprehensive programs to identify children at risk of mental health problems and find they are often unable to do anything until it is too late to keep the child in the school system. Community Now contracts with the school districts to offer programs that supplement school services, helping to break the cycle of mental illness, violence and school failure. However, the funding we receive from the school districts covers only a portion of our operating costs. We rely on generous financial support from individuals, foundations and companies, to help cover operating costs that are essential to maintaining and expanding our programs. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Community Now looks to the community that it serves to support programs that help to change the lives of the children in this region every year.
At the present time, Community Now offers two very different programs that promote mental health, self-esteem, leadership and mental resilience:
- GET PLUGGED IN Student Leadership Program (GPI)
- Me, Myself & Mine Natural Hair Education (MMM)
— Our Mission
To engage our children in a caring, motivating and equitable learning environment that inspires them to become leaders and advocates in society.
— Our Vision
We are guided by a vision of a society that fosters early prevention; a place where our children are provided with the life skills and tools needed to be socially emotionally and academically strong.
— Our Story
Community Now began in 2010 in Moreno Valley, Ca as a grassroots volunteer organization with the core philosophies’ it takes a village” and “see a need fill a need”. Community Now became a non-profit in 2013 and offers multiple programs supporting mental wellbeing in the Inland Empire.
MEET THE FOUNDER
Community Now = Positive Change at School and Home
Through personal experience with the stressors of childhood trauma, Shor saw that many children need prevention programs and there is a lack of these programs. Through her resilience she has built these amazing programs to help children just like her.
Both the GET PLUGGED IN and Me, Myself & Mine programs have been designed to mitigate some of the impediments to learning and reduce the danger of long-term mental stress or mental illness that are the result of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). These programs help to develop resilience in a child -- the ability to return to being healthy and hopeful after bad things happen. Ideally, resilience is taught in the home. But often, parents themselves have not developed these skills. Community Now seeks to compensate for this lack of resilience by teaching children they have the power to choose how to respond to bad or hurtful things in their lives.
SHOR DENNY
Founder & CEO
NEXT STEPS...
Community Now makes a difference in the community. Support for Community Now has long-term impact on children, their teachers, their school, their families and their communities.