Peggy Ford: Dedication drives passion for helping children, families

Sep. 26—Peggy Ford has dedicated her life to helping children. Whether it be through social work or her most recent position at an Aiken nonprofit, Ford aims to make a difference.

By the age of 12, Ford was a tutor, working with younger children to help them succeed. After graduating college, she started in social work in her home state of Virginia. From there, she became a case worker placing children suffering from child abuse into foster care.

Ford's biggest role came when she moved to South Carolina and found Children's Place. Her role of executive director at the local nonprofit earned her the title of 2016 Woman of the Year by the Aiken Chamber of Commerce.

Children's Place is a local child and family development center focused on helping young children and their families become stronger. It was the first nonprofit in the state of South Carolina to offer therapeutic childcare and it currently serves over 600 children and families annually.

"We are now one of two programs [in South Carolina] offering an early intervention program around increasing the social and emotional development of children," Ford said. "We work on reducing behavior problems, and it's coming more and more into focus why we need to do that on behalf of children and families. We need every child to become a good citizen — and good citizenship starts with being able to play with your friends."

Ford said as executive director of Children's Place, she is the endpoint for everyone else's job. She said she works on the nonprofit's finances, policies and management.

"I get to look at how interactions are designed with the children and what the treatment plans are — and right now, a big part is trying to raise funds for our new building. That's really, probably the most important job that I have right now is finding another two and a half million dollars."

The Children's Place is hoping to expand into a larger space. Ford said because of how much the nonprofit has grown, the space is extremely cramped.

"We've gathered more and more programs, and we've been approached by other state entities to take on other functions," Ford said. "As a result, you can see that we don't look like the average place. We don't typically go into a place and find seven people with licensed clinical degrees, all sitting in one room. So it's not just about an expansion, it's about getting the space we need to be able to actually do and complete the work."

There are currently 51 employees currently working out of the nonprofit's location on Barnwell Avenue. To volunteer to help fundraise for the Children's Place's new facility, contact Children's Place at info@childrensplaceinc.org.

Children's Place is also hoping to add one more class of children with the new space. The new class would include older children, differing from the Children's Place's current offerings.

"Right now, we start at about (age) 2," Ford said. "A lot of times, families and children are struggling long before 2. The sooner we can get to them, the more lasting the impact."

Children's place is not just a childcare center. The organization describes itself as a child and family development center.

"Every one of the programs we have is focused on building strong families," Ford said. "Our philosophy is that families don't want to become broken, all families want to get stronger. So how do we help families become stronger? In the Strengthening Families program, you don't have to have an open Child Protective Services case or be struggling with issues — you just have to want to be stronger and have a 6- to 11-year-old child."

Most of the children that Children's Place serves in the Therapeutic Childcare Program have experienced something that would be classified as an "adverse experience."

Ford said 60-65% of all South Carolinians have had an adverse childhood experience.

"Sometimes, there are children that only have one," she said. "And it's easier to cope with one adverse experience — some children have four or five. When it gets up to the four or five, we know it changes brain chemistry. It causes you to have difficulty regulating your emotions, and when that happens, that sets you on a pathway of struggling when you get into school. So it's not like what they're living through is different than what many of us live through, it's that sometimes they've had to live through more of them."

The Children's Place efforts also help to lower crime in Aiken County.

Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hurt has expressed he believes in the Children's Place's efforts, Ford said.

"He will tell you that he believes in our program, and he believes in the work we do because you can cut the crime by helping young children," she said. "All of it is connected. Whenever you read about something being done, and you're reading about an arrest, you can bet that there were children that witness that happening, and that there were children affected by that — so it's circular."

Ford said the work the Children's Place is doing is helping to prevent children with untreated trauma from becoming criminals.

"When you start talking about that many people with that number of degrees working on this, we are expensive, but we're a whole lot less expensive than putting somebody in jail," she said. "If we don't spend money on early childhood programs and we don't tackle some of these hard issues, we're going to struggle with those kids later on. I've certainly seen that with kids whose parents took them out."

Seeing children who have been through adverse experiences isn't always easy, but Ford said she focuses on the things she can do.

"You get your energy from what you can do, where you can make a difference," she said. "It never feels like something cannot get better. While I'm a realist, I think I'm also an optimist. I've never felt that things are going to just be negative, that it's always a chance to be better."

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