Family Justice Center in Modesto to expand services

A program that has provided programming for abused and at-risk youth in Stanislaus County for 13 years has dissolved, but in a final act of charity gifted its facility to another nonprofit that serves the same population.

The Family Justice Center has been handed the keys to Cricket’s House at 133 Downey Ave. to expand the center’s programs for children.

Cricket’s House opened in 2002 under the Christopher P. Walker Foundation, created by Walker’s friends and mother, Jean Walker Lowell. Walker, affectionately known as Cricket, died in a car accident in 2001 at the age of 29. He often spoke of building a place where children less fortunate than he could find the safety, love and care they deserved, according to a statement from the foundation.

The foundation had partnered with the Children’s Crisis Center of Stanislaus County on Cricket’s House, but that arrangement ended in June 2014.

“A lot of the (Walker Foundation) board members are now older, they have families, they have other responsibilities,” said foundation President Todd Venturini. “Jean has committed an incredible amount of time and energy to the project, and we just decided now is the time to hand it off to somebody that we felt confident could continue to support the mission.”

The century-old, two-story house, which will retain the name Cricket’s House, primarily will be used by the Family Justice Center to expand its Art Restores Kids program. The house’s location one block from the Family Justice Center on I Street is perfect for clients, said center director Tom Ciccarelli.

The ARK program allows children who have been exposed to trauma to express their feelings and improve their emotional, spiritual and mental well-being through art.

The Family Justice Center serves victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and elder abuse. Ciccarelli said the center handles 25 to 30 cases a month involving children of sexual assault.

Those children are the prime candidates for the art therapy program.

Every year, professional artists make interpretations of the children’s work, which are auctioned off at the center’s Art of Justice event. Some $23,000 was raised during this year’s event in March, all of which goes back into the program.

In addition to Cricket’s House, the Walker Foundation donated $20,000 to the center and “we are going to encourage our donors that if they want to continue to support this facility, to give directly to the Family Justice Center and maybe earmark the funds for Cricket’s House,” Venturini said.

Ciccarelli said children are expected to start using the house in the next two weeks. Future plans for it include expanding day care services to the upstairs of the house, and a mother-in-law unit on the property formerly used as an office could become a classroom for parents working toward getting their general education diploma or taking English-learning classes.

“We have enjoyed very much doing something that was dear to Cricket’s heart and working with all of his friends on the board, but we are happy to see Tom take it over,” Walker Lowell said during a final walk-through Thursday. “It will be difficult, but we can still drive by and see kids here, and that’s the purpose of it.”

This story was originally published April 18, 2015 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Family Justice Center in Modesto to expand services."