Tools for Tomorrow is changing the lives of children in Coachella Valley. The local nonprofit provides art education with a literacy focus via its afterschool programs at public elementary schools.
TFT is hosting a fundraising gala, “A Night at the Moulin Rouge,” at the Agua Caliente Rancho Mirage on Monday, Feb. 27.
In the United States, 7.6 million children are alone and unsupervised after school, according to the Afterschool Alliance. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, more than 11 million kids in the United States live below the federal poverty line. In the Coachella Valley, more than 80 percent of public school students are eligible free-lunch programs, meaning their families are either at or near the federal poverty level, according to TFT.
Tools for Tomorrow aims to change the patterns of after-school life for kids in grades 3 through 5. Now established in 17 Coachella Valley elementary schools, TFT provides a safe place for kids to express themselves via an arts program with a literacy focus. Over the years, more than 19,000 children have gone through TFT, with 25 to 30 from each school participating at any one time.
However, TFT is in just a fraction of the valley’s elementary schools. TFT teachers are paid, and arts/crafts materials are not free, so it costs between $10,000 and $12,000 to set up TFT at a school for a year.
Writer and artist Rachel Druten founded TFT in 1998, starting with four schools in Desert Hot Springs.
“The classes build character and a vision of what (the kids’) lives can become,” Druten said.
Druten remembers a 7-year-old boy who participated in a TFT program. “He stuttered and couldn’t even put a sentence together,” she said. “Our teachers worked with him for two years, and not only did he stop stuttering; he wrote a play in which he starred.”
Since TFT has now been in existence for 2 1/2 decades, some TFT alums are now adults. “Some students have come back and even taught for us,” Druten said.
Via lessons in creative writing, art, music and drama, children learn both artistic and social-interaction skills. Andrea Hecht, executive director of TFT, said the program is needed more than ever during these stressful times. The COVID-19 pandemic took a large toll on children’s mental health. Depression and anxiety in children have doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to medical journal JAMA Pediatrics.
“(Some students helped by TFT) didn’t interact with other kids, forgot how to have a conversation; they interrupted or even forgot how to line up at school,” Hecht said. “They watch the news and are worried about war, COVID and sickness. There are kids who lost their parents.”
Hecht and the teachers at TFT aim to provide care and encouragement for these children, giving them power and plans for the future that otherwise they might not have.
Growing up in Desert Hot Springs, third-grader Jose Munoz couldn’t wait to go to his TFT after-school program. His mother Rosa explained how Jose was helped by the program.
“It was difficult for me. I worked and couldn’t always pick him up after school, and he was bored with the babysitters,” Rosa said. “But he always looked forward to going to TFT.”
Jose said TFT helped him gain self-confidence. “I emceed at a school event and told a lot of jokes,” he said.
Jose talked about the role music had in the program.
“We even made some (instruments) of our own with boxes,” Jose said. “The teachers played a lot of music for us. When I heard it, I loved it and wanted to play music. I chose the saxophone.”
Jose is now in the eighth grade. He plays in his school’s band and wants to eventually become a doctor.
A significant chunk of TFT’s funding is slated to come from the organization’s fundraising gala. This year’s theme is “A Night at the Moulin Rouge.” The event will honor Jeff McDonald and Charles Thomas, owners of the Roost Lounge and founders of Roost Foundation. The foundation has donated thousands of dollars to various nonprofits, including the Keisha D Scholarship Fund, Angel View, the Cathedral City Senior Center, Tools for Tomorrow, the Palm Springs Animal Shelter, the Boys and Girls Club of Cathedral City, Martha’s Kitchen and the FIND Food Bank.
“This has been the most gratifying time of my life,” said McDonald. “I’m grateful that people see the work Charles and I are doing and know that we’re making a difference.”
“A Night at the Moulin Rouge,” a fundraiser for Tools for Tomorrow, will take place at 5 p.m., Monday, Feb. 27, at the Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, at 32250 Bob Hope Drive, in Rancho Mirage. Tickets are $250, $150 of which is tax-deductible. For tickets or for more information about Tools for Tomorrow, call 760-601-3954, or visit www.toolsfortomorrow.org.
