August 29, 2013 - On the Go in MCO

ORLANDO CITY SC PLAYERS HELP “KICK” OPEN COMMUNITY BASED CARE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA’S ALL-NEW FOSTER CARE FACILITY

— Soccer players donate time and toys to center —

As Community Based Care of Central Florida (CBCCFL) geared up today for their grand opening of CBC West – a brand-new service center dedicated to helping parents best care for foster children – athletes from Orlando City SC spent time at the facility ensuring a special room was filled with soccer balls, signed autographs and Lions merchandise to inspire the children.

The new CBC West building allows Devereux, One Hope United, IMPOWER and CBCCFL to work closely together helping foster children in need. In the past, each organization was scattered in separate buildings throughout the county. And now with CBC West, they will operate on all cylinders with ease, including helping foster parents make appointments, visitation sessions and attend support groups for their foster kids.

It is no surprise that foster children are more likely than most to need additional medical and emotional support. According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, “about 30% of children in foster care have severe emotional, behavioral, or developmental problems.” By working together under one roof, these four organizations can work hand-in-hand to bring positive results to Central Florida’s foster children.

Community Based Care of Central Florida (CBCCFL) is the lead agency overseeing foster and adoption programs in Orange, Osceola and Seminole county.

Devereux is a non-profit organization providing services around the nation for persons with emotional, developmental & educational disabilities.

One Hope United is an accredited, not-for-profit human service organization that provides a diverse array of high-quality prevention, intervention, counseling and child development programs.

IMPOWER is a non-profit organization dedicated to the mental health and well-being of children in need. They are focused on empowering the lives of those in need by offering personal attention, counseling, assistance and inspiration to help them succeed.

From visitation rooms where children can safely play with their biological parents to individual and group therapy, the new service center makes being a foster parent even easier.

Thanks to Orlando City SC players who donated time and toys for Central Florida’s foster children along with three Central Florida companies – McCree General Contractors & Architects, Michelee Puppets, and Blackrain Partners – the visitation rooms in the new building are now filled with cheerful and positive activities.

I’ve been watching the Disney Channel show Good Luck Charlie and thought the patriarch, Bob Duncan, reminded me a lot of Bob Parr, aka Mr. Incredible, from the Disney/Pixar movie the Incredibles. Both men have similar builds at the beginning being big and tall guys with similar blond haircuts. I believe their similarities go further than the physical if you’ll allow me to indulge.

Bob Duncan of Good Luck Charlie — Bob Duncan

In Good Luck Charlie, Bob Duncan is an exterminator who wears a uniform for his job. Mr. Incredible wears a uniform when he is in his superhero mode. Both have larger than average family sizes with three to five kids each. Even their family members have some common threads.

Each family has at least two boys and one girl. Good Luck Charlie focuses primarily on Teddy, the girl who is making the video diaries for her baby sister Charlie. I would say of the children in the Parr family, Violet seems to get the most attention. The two girls are the most likely in their respective families to behave in school, not get in as much trouble as their younger brothers, and aren’t the most confident around boys.

Speaking of trouble, in the Incredibles, Dash is a bit of a troublemaker as evidenced by his mom, Helen, getting called into the principal’s office after Dash tormented a teacher. Gabe Duncan of Good Luck Charlie is a first class expert in causing trouble in and out of school, to the point it seems his mom is in school almost as often as he is.

Their are some differences too, like Good Luck Charlie has an older brother, PJ, while the Incredibles other brother is a baby named Jack Jack. While their ages are obviously on opposite ends of the spectrum, I’d say these two boys are the most innocent and childlike in their respective families. The Duncan family also now has two other children, the aforementioned little girl Charlie and now another baby boy named Toby.

Back to the Bobs. Each of these two men are the breadwinners in their homes while their wives take on the role (eventually for Amy Duncan) of stay at home mom. Helen Parr is the most flexible 😉 as Elastigirl, but she and Amy do have some things in common. Often Amy and Helen are put in positions to rescue their husbands from the error of their ways. Progressing through Good Luck Charlie and the Incredibles, both Bobs go through amazing physical transformations. Bob Duncan even played a superhero, Captain Extermo, in a Halloween episode of season 3 of Good Luck Charlie. Although, if Edna Mode of the Incredibles was around, I’m sure she would have told him, “no capes!”

So what do you think? Have you seen both Good Luck Charlie and the Incredibles? Did you notice the likenesses between the Bobs and the Duncan and Parr families? Let me know.

All images are copyright Disney or Disney/Pixar.