Featuring Craig Secher
Executive Director and Founder of Realities for Children
April 2023
Across the globe, children are universally among the most vulnerable populations by the nature of them simply being children. Children in Northern Colorado are no different in the sense that they share this same vulnerability because of their status as children. Craig Secher, Executive Director and Founder of Realities for Children, recognized this particular vulnerability in the children in his community and decided he would do something about it.
Craig Secher worked as a child protection case manager with Larimer County Child Protective Services for over five years. In this capacity, he served as a counselor for emotionally disturbed children who experienced child abuse. He became a certified addictions counselor and expanded his work to include working with chemically dependent teens who had suffered domestic violence and child abuse prior to their addictions. In addition, he investigated reports of child abuse and took on ongoing case management for the Larimer County Department of Human Services.
Through his experience as a Child Protection Case manager with Larimer County, Craig witnessed first hand how children so often can slip through the cracks of a system. From his experience, he saw the importance of a safety net for such children, the lack of an existing safety net to fulfill this need, and decided he would be the one to do something about it.
Craig used his experience to build a safety net of services and funding for children who had faced abuse and neglect in order to prevent any child from being forgotten. This safety net became Realities for Children. Realities for Children involves a non-profit and charity entity that works together to connect the human services community to the business community in order to support children in Northern Colorado who are in need. Over 39 partner agencies are involved in this work with Realities for Children, including Larimer County Child Protection. Through this collaboration they provide for the emergency and support needs of children in Northern Colorado who have either been abused, neglected, abandoned, or are at risk of experiencing any of these injustices.
As Executive Director and Founder of Realities for Children, Craig personally is responsible for Affiliate Youth Agency partnerships, sponsorship distributions, and emergency fund allocations. In all of his work, he instills and carries his vision of protecting children and preventing any child from being abandoned or forgotten. His work and dedication to children and also enabling community collaboration to protect vulnerable children is an inspiration. Craig Secher saw a need and determined that he would not simply look away, but instead do something about it.