Dear Friends of Radiant Futures,

December marks the end of the calendar year, and a time to pause and reflect on the months that have passed. I have so much to be proud of.

2019 marks a new era for us. After a period of reimagining the role of Radiant Futures in our community through our strategic planning process, we have adopted a broader and clearer vision for us to become a premier trauma-informed care service provider for survivors of abuse. It is an honor for me to be part of a strong team and move this work forward.

The survivors in our programs have been at the forefront of our minds through all this change. We have expanded our Elder Abuse program by providing targeted services and becoming the lead agency of a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team. We implemented “tele-mental health” services by providing counseling sessions through webcam and the internet in an effort to remove barriers to services. And lastly, we continued to be the only domestic violence shelter in Orange County to accept those with pets into our housing program.

Also during this year, we’ve laid out the groundwork to pilot new research, thanks to investments from our private funders and partnerships with academic research departments from California State University, Fullerton and University of California, Irvine. For example, our state-of-the-art Sensory Room will soon be available as a new resource for survivors of trauma, designed to create a feeling of comfort and safety and to be used as part of their overall treatment plan. Our research into measuring the success of the survivors’ recovery process will allow us to understand how to effectively leverage unique and innovative program elements with existing programs to benefit survivors and their families.

2019 has been a great year for Radiant Futures. I can’t wait to see what 2020 has in store for us!