The story of A Child's Prayer, Inc began with the question: How do I give the Gift of Love and Compassion to our at risk youth, in a way that they will benefit and become healthy, productive citizens with the desire and drive to improve their lives as well as the lives of others? This single question led me down many different avenues, however, each avenue was connected by the same foundation...."Healing the Mind". The Mind believes what the Mind Receives. As an individual who has always had the heart and mind to care for others, it saddened me to see how many of our children suffer from anger issues, lack of coping skills, and insufficient healthy mental development. Although our focus is greatly directed towards our youth, our dream of healing and developing healthy minds will only become reality through involving parents, guardians, and our communities. We heal by becoming aware of the many ways we contribute to our youths' mental development. Not only am I the CEO of A Child's Prayer Inc, but I am also the mother of three adult children. As a mother, when my children were living in my home, my focus was on providing what I thought were the necessities. Go to work, pay the bills, provide food and shelter, make sure my children focused on education, and keep them safe until it was time for them to be out on their own. I now know that even after providing those things, there are so many other ingredients needed in the development of healthy mental health. When we hear "Mental Health", as a society, we tend to think of illness, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc. There is so much more to mental health and its development. We sometimes tell our children, "You can be anything you want to be", and then we discourage them when they choose to do or be something or someone that is out of our view of "success" . Although we as parents want the best for our children, we unknowingly teach them that they do not have what it takes to be whom or what they believe in their hearts they are meant to be, and who they desire to be is less than enough. Negative thoughts grow just as positive thoughts. A Child's Prayer, Inc was not created to judge or degrade parents/guardians, but to assist in encouraging healthy mental development. There are so many things that we as parents would like to do for our children, but are unfortunately unable to do because of lack of finances, transportation, resources, and several other hurdles. We at A Child's Prayer, Inc understand what it's like to be that parent that wants more for their child but has no idea how to get what the child needs. We also understand what it's like to be that child with so many dreams but no idea how to make those dreams a reality. With the support of our volunteers and donors, our vision is to foster a community in which our youth are able to reach their full potential and become contributing healthy minded members of society. We believe healthy mental awareness is the foundation to a successful future. The mind believes what the mind receives.