[Girls & Boys Town]

Dirk and April Arends had their first son, Isaiah in January of 2005, but soon after his arrival they became the parents of nine other children. Today, the Arend Family is also the Family Teaching Couple at Girls and Boys Town of Southern California's baby home in Trabuco Canyon. The home was named "Tilly's Home" at a grand opening in June of 2005 for the Orange County-based company that raised more than $43,000 to support the renovations needed to make the home safe for little ones. Now, the Arends, along with other Girls and Boys Town staff and volunteers from the community provide a stable, familystyle environment for neglected, abused or abandoned children ages 0 to 6. This family environment, where the kids see the same couple in the morning and at bedtime, is the best way to give the kids stability. "We love them like they're our own," April Arends said.

The idea for the baby home was born two summers ago, when Michael Riley, Director of the Department of Children and Family Services in Orange County, told Keith Diederich, President & CEO of Girls and Boys Town of Southern California, that there were at least 60 young children at any given time in the county's system, most of whom came with siblings. Since Girls and Boys Town of Southern California's five residential homes on our Trabuco campus were built in 1994 to help adolescents, 8-17 year olds, one of the houses had to be retrofitted for little kids, complete with child-sized furniture, bright colors and a big playground outside.

"Typically, young kids would go into foster homes, but the County had a large number of sibling sets, brothers and sisters that they wanted to keep together. Traditional foster homes are not usually able to take several kids in that age range (from newborn to age 6) at one time," Diederich said. "We wanted to keep these siblings together, and since we run a very strong family-style program, it seemed like a natural fit." said Diederich.

"Other Southern California companies are joining to help the babies in the home. The Parrot Head Club of Orange County raised money to purchase the jungle gym and landscape around the home, CoCaLo donated all of the infant bedding and room decorations, and Circle of Friends is the official 'bath time' sponsor of the home. They provide all of the wonderful shampoo and bath products, especially designed for the little ones," said Diederich.

For her 50th birthday, Levine and her namesake company hosted a golf tournament that raised $43,535 for the baby home. "We really feel that the youth are the future, and we want to help everybody to have the same opportunities," Levine said.

To inquire about volunteering at the Baby Home, please call (714) 532-2399 x207 today.

Return to the Table of Contents