Former SCAN volunteer makes $500K+ donation

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - SCAN Inc. announced Friday that thanks to a $534,930 donation from a former Fort Wayne resident and SCAN volunteer, the Joan Sherman Program for Resilient Children has been founded to help children cope with abusive histories.

The Joan Sherman Program for Resilient Children will provide resources and staff training to further develop resiliency services and a site for collaborative research with the Devereux Center for Resilient Children., a nationally-recognized nonprofit leader in behavioral health.

SCAN said research shows children who have been traumatized can be taught specific resiliency skills that help them adapt and recover from the trauma.

Devereux has developed scientifically-validated resiliency assessment and behavioral screening tools which are used with families in SCAN’s Family Restoration Division.

Family Restoration serves those Allen County families who have already crossed the line of abuse and neglect and are referred by the courts and the Allen County Department of Child Services.

Sherman, who began her long-time career in banking after leaving home at age 18, was a victim of child abuse while growing up in Michigan. “Children who grow up in an environment where abuse and neglect are an everyday part of life do not have to live their lives, even after becoming adults, in chaos and pain,” said Sherman.

Joan first became involved with SCAN as a volunteer after attending a fundraiser with friends Eleanor and Lockwood Marine. She served on SCAN’s board of directors from 2003-2006. “One of the things that clicked with me was the message of SCAN, the impact the agency was having on children who were abused and neglected,” she said.

“Some children seem to find some inner strength that helps them find their way, many times much better than their own siblings who have been subjected to the same daily trauma and tensions. Through the proper tools, we can help children find and develop those small seeds of resiliency so their past does not have to be their future. What better way to help children than to help them help themselves?

We are most thrilled and honored to be able to work with SCAN in these endeavors, because we believe there is no better champion for children anywhere,” Sherman said.

“Having the opportunity to help develop a program working with SCAN by researching the effects of resiliency training for children and their families is a very powerful and lasting legacy of the success my husband, Don, and I have enjoyed in our business lives and through the joys we have experienced with our families and friends,” Sherman added.

Some people who are abused turn to drugs and alcohol or they may have eating disorders. “They’re trying to fill those holes in their hearts,” Joan points out, saying for some reason, unlike her sisters, she found “an inner strength,” the coping skills, that helped her pull herself out of the effects of the negative parental voices she heard and the abuse she experienced as a child. For one, books became her safe retreat and the lifeline to what amazing things people who had their own troubles and adversity could accomplish. Those people in the biographies she read became her role models. Joan also found help through counseling.

“One of the exciting things about working with children in resiliency is that we can help children find and develop those inner strengths, those protective factors,” Sherman said.

Sherman’s gift will be donated over 5 years and is the largest private donation the organization has received in its 37 year history.