We are very excited about the launch of our first program, Children Left Behind. In addition to helping children face the separation of parents, other programs we have in the works include helping children cope with the death of a parent or loved one and the feelings that a child experiences when a parent is deployed overseas.

Children are not the only ones who need to cope with their feelings and emotions during those times. Partners, parents and other adults also face a difficult time, left alone suddenly while being required to take over the running of a household and the care of children without the presence and help of their partner.

One sector that is often “ left behind” and easily forgotten by friends and family are those who are sent off to prison. Although it is easy to assume that they “got what they deserved,” the truth is that we are a “prison happy country, sending people to prison more readily than almost any other developed nation. The United States has the largest prison population of any developed country in the world, and it has the largest total prison population of any nation. The U.S. is home to only 5% of the world’s entire population, yet it also houses 25% of the world’s entire prison population. Every year, over 200,000 people are sent to prison. It has been estimated that this number includes as many as 10,000 innocent people as well. Often, those on the outside entirely cut off all contact with prisoners, some of them minors or in their late teens or early twenties, many of them first-time offenders, not long-term repeat offenders-people like you and me who made a mistake or in some cases are convicted despite being innocent. Many of these people face sentences of 15, 20, 30 or more years. We have developed a program to reach out to these individuals because they also experience the severe loss, not only of their freedom but of contact with their families, children, partners and parents.