All Kids Should Feel Secure

Stuffed animals and blankets tend to be a favorite for toddlers; however, many children and adolescents hold on to favored stuffies, loveys, or blankies well into adulthood.  These objects are often used as transitional objects by youth, aiding them in learning to self soothe and to find their own ways through difficult feelings or emotional situations.  Researchers have found that the presence of a transitional object can lessen anxiety in the moment and buffer against longer term symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.

When Omphalos began working with our partner organizations to get youth at risk out of Afghanistan in August 2021, we quickly implemented a transitional object drive. Other organizations and individuals have questioned the value of such a drive, commenting that such objects are viewed as ‘consumables’. However, as these youth leave their homes with little to none of their personal belongings, having an object that is completely their own to join them in the transition from the only home they have known to a new country with different languages, cultures, and norms, may provide a modicum of security and comfort. Any of us who has taken a favorite stuffed animal to college with us or watched our child take their blankie to the doctor or held it while watching a scary movie knows, implicitly, the psychological power of a transitional object.

Thanks to the generous donations of supporters across the country, we have collected and distributed over 700 stuffed animals and 150 blankets (over 70 of which were handmade) to over 300 children and teens who have begun the resettlement transition here in the United States.

Contact our CEO or Clinical Director if you would like to support our efforts to provide psychological support to these children and others who have lived through traumatic experiences and/or our efforts to continue to provide high quality community education centered around the prevention of sexual exploitation of youth.

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