105:, started the Caregiving Youth Project. The Caregiving Youth Project acts as a system of early intervention to aid youth that are caregivers. It is also said to be the first organization of its kind in the United States. The organization provides support services to the youth in school, out of school and at home. Since 2006, the program has expanded to 25 area middle and high schools. The program also follows children throughout their grade school education. The program also provides children with a home study and also provides education about factors the children will need to know in order to be better caregivers. The program relies on local funding and from donations. Children also are connected to other children in the same situation, even in different countries. They also are offered a getaway called Camp Treasure, where they get a chance to go away to camp.
101:. In 2006 the first Caregiving Youth Project began at Boca Raton Community Middle School. The organization is perhaps the first of its kind to be founded in the United States. As of 2012, the program has helped over 550 children. This organization was also helped by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It also supports hundreds of students at a time. Her organization, located in
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Siskowski received the
Purpose Prize in 2009. In 2009, she was also named an Ashoka Fellow, which is a lifetime fellowship to expand her organization. She was also named a Top 10 CNN Hero in 2012. She was also nominated for a Blue Dove award in 2012 and more recently the Johns Hopkins Distinguished
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on a full scholarship. She earned a master's degree in public administration with a major in Health
Administration from New York University. After becoming a registered nurse, she gained advanced degrees in cardiac nursing and then as a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator. She also went on to get a
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Siskowski founded her first nonprofit centered around family caregiving in the late 1990s. The group provided volunteer support services to help people who were homebound and caregiving families, ultimately changing its name to
Volunteers for the Homebound and Family Caregivers (VHFC), Inc. The
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in
Maryland in 1968, then in New Jersey and Florida. She worked in the health care system for over 30 years. She worked in settings such as hospitals, home care, and hospice nursing. She also founded a healthcare company, MD To You, which sent doctors into the home.
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school district to help her understand the scope of the youth caregiving problem, and that is when she discovered that thousands of middle and high school children are caregivers. This impetus also led to the first national study on children caregivers in 2005.
46:. When her parents divorced, she went to live with her grandparents. When she was 11, she cared for her ailing grandfather for 2 years until his death. Her grandfather suffered from chronic heart disease. After her grandfather's death, she became a
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Afterward, Siskowski decided to focus solely on youth caregiving. By the end of 2009 VHFC changed its corporate name to the
American Association for Caregiving Youth (AACY) in
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and volunteered with a local junior first aid squad. After graduating high school, she went on to attend nursing school
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Alumna Award and has a Star in the Boca Raton Walk of
Recognition. She has also hosted local awards ceremonies.
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480:"2012 CNN Hero and Palm Beach County resident Connie Siskowski hosts Annual Blue Dove Awards for local heroes"
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activist for young people who are caring for ill, disabled, or aging family members. She was named as a
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147:"Connie Siskowski President, American Association of Caregiving Youth Purpose Prize Winner 2009"
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390:"Return to Alumni News Home Connie Siskowski is named a CNN 2012 Hero"
85:'s Faith in Action program. Siskowski worked with researchers at
59:. She moved to Boca Raton, Florida from New Jersey in 1990.
248:"Boca's Connie Siskowski named to 2012 CNN Heroes Top Ten"
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The
American Association for Caregiving Youth's website
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program was founded in 1998 with seed money from the
218:"Help for a 'hidden population' of caregiving kids"
452:"An Association That's There for Child Caregivers"
541:"Caregiving youth agency reaches across the pond"
324:"Supporting Children Who Serve as Caregivers"
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594:Connie Sikowski's Purpose Prize winner video
510:"American Association of Caregiving Youth"
589:Connie Sikowski's autobiographical story
422:"Connie Siskowski hits the CNN Big Time"
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579:Sikowski's CNN Heroes tribute video
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355:"Community Hero: Connie Siskowski"
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584:An interview with Connie Sikowski
539:Shatzman, Marci (15 July 2015).
216:Berger, Danielle (17 May 2012).
654:American women company founders
649:American nursing administrators
629:Johns Hopkins University alumni
624:People from Nutley, New Jersey
514:Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
322:Brody, Jane E. (23 May 2016).
175:"CNN Heroes: Connie Siskowski"
87:Palm Beach Atlantic University
83:Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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679:American social entrepreneurs
484:Hospice of Palm Beach County
450:Smith, Ernie (24 May 2016).
30:winner in 2009 and a top 10
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634:New York University alumni
574:Sikowski's CNN Heroes page
99:Palm Beach County, Florida
659:American company founders
609:American health activists
52:Johns Hopkins University
669:Activists from Florida
639:Lynn University alumni
252:The Boca Raton Tribune
664:Founders of charities
644:American women nurses
42:Siskowski grew up in
103:Boca Raton, Florida
67:Siskowski became a
328:The New York Times
291:"Connie Siskowski"
44:Nutley, New Jersey
295:Ashoka Foundation
254:. 26 October 2012
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614:Caregiving
603:Categories
151:Encore.org
118:References
34:in 2012.
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89:and the
76:Activism
32:CNN Hero
359:My Hero
109:Awards
63:Career
22:is a
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38:Life
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