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foster care month

White graphic for the Super Saturday Virtual Foster Care Training Conference with photos of adults looking at computers
Foster Care, foster care month, Foster Parents, Uncategorized

Foster Care Super Saturday Training Conference June 18, 2022

Super Saturday: A Virtual Foster Parent Training Event! Join Beech Acres Parenting Center for Super Saturday: A Virtual Foster Parent Training Event Saturday, June 18, 2022. All attendees are welcome! Training certificates are provided as needed after the event. Attend for a chance to win door prizes awarded throughout the day! Please reserve one ticket per attendee regardless of how many sessions you will attend.  Registered attendees will be able to select individual sessions during the event.  Video required, same-household attendees may attend on one or multiple devices. Questions? Contact Sarah or Ryshel for more information or register online here. Download more information here. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 9:00 AM – Welcome & Opening Remarks 9:15 AM – DEI Workshop Part 1 10:00 AM – Break 10:15 AM – Morning Workshops 12:15 PM – Lunch 12:45 PM – Guest Speaker 1:00 PM – DEI Workshop Part II 1:45 PM – Break 2:00 PM – Afternoon Workshops 4:00 PM – Panel Discussion 4:45 PM – Closing Remarks Scheduled to Appear LaTrese Green Nurturing Self and Being Love LaTrese Green is a Health Educator residing in the Greater Cincinnati Region. She is as well a meditationand yoga instructor as well. She uses a plethora of wellness skills to enhance the community, locally and globally into a more holistic lifestyle. The Nurturing Self and Being Love Session is about finding your sense of peace in everyday life habits and situations. Tree Essentials LLC will provide you with applicable tips and skills to further enhance your self-love journey. Melissa Adamchik Trauma and Resilience within a Developmental Perspective Melissa Adamchik, MA, LPP, is the Executive Director of the Tristate Trauma Network since its formationin 2015. In addition, she works as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Social Work at Northern Kentucky University. Melissa hasher Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Spalding University and is independently licensed as a Psychological Practitioner in Kentucky. This session will discuss the effects of traumatic experiences on the development of the brain and the body and how these translate into behavioral presentations. It will also explore the resilience factors that can help to mitigate these effects for children in the short and long term. Mark Cardwell Let’s Talk About It. Mark Cardwell is the founder and principal consultant for Cardwell Communications LLC, a full-service marketing consultancy. After being in 5 five foster homes Mark was adopted at the age of 5. After Ohio records were unsealed Mark searched for and was reunited with his birth family after 50 years of separation. In the discussion “Let’s Talk About It”, I share my personal experience and perspective on how we might manage the uncomfortable or tough conversations that come up in all stages of the adoption journey. Yolanda NAMI – Ending the Silence for Families Yolonda is a Recovery Ambassador! She is currently a volunteer peer leader for NAMI Southwest Ohio where she leads Peer to Peer classes, helps facilitate Connections Support Groups, and is an In Our Own Voice and Ending the Silence presenter. She writes a Word Press blog, Bridges to Hope. She also volunteers for the Southwest Ohio Council on Aging and leads classes now online and over the phone on Chronic Pain and Chronic Disease as well as Diabetes Self-Management. Ending the Silence is an engaging presentation about mental health for parents and caregivers where a lead presenter shares an informative presentation and a young adult with a mental health condition shares their journey of recovery. Sarah Breetz, LSW, MSW Promoting Normalcy in Foster Care Sarah Breetz, LSW, MSW, is the Manager of Training and Licensing at Beech Acres. Sarah has worked in Foster Care at Beech Acres since 2013. Sarah is a Licensed Social Worker and has a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Louisville. Youth in foster care often talk about feeling different from their peers. Regulations set in place to create safety for young people can often create barriers that cause them to miss out on experiences. This session will focus on efforts to provide normalcy for foster youth. Ryshel Bowling Where do I belong… Placement from a Bio Child’s perspective. Ryshel and her husband were licensed foster care parents for more than 2 years for teen girls. They completed their family through adoption in November of 2021. Ryshel will be joined by her daughter, Elizabeth, to provide first-hand insight on the adjustment of placement for bio children in the home. Katie Beurket Supporting Children & Families After a Death Katie has a B.S. in Communications with a focus on Organizational & Health Communication from Ohio University. Her introduction to Fernside was as a teenager participating in our support groups following the death of her father in 2009. While still in high school, Katie returned to Fernside to volunteer as a member of our teen PIT (Philanthropists in Training) Crew. After college, she completed our Facilitator Training Program where she volunteered for three years before joining the staff at the beginning of 2021. Katie coordinates our East Side and Tuesday Blue Ash group nights as well as our Community Outreach & Education Program, including oversight of all social media platforms. She also assists with our Camp and Crisis Programs. Join us for informational training with Fernside Center for Grieving Children and Families. The training will cover the developmental stages of grief for children ages 3-18 including different grief reactions and ways to help a grieving child. We will discuss tips and interventions for working with children who have experienced different types of grief. There will be an informational segment on Fernside services and a Q & A session for families. Kenny McQuitty Internet Safet for Kids and Families Technology has an inevitable place in our day-to-day activities and lives. It is up to us to make sure technology doesn’t go outside the boundaries we set for it. And as we do that we create a space that honors each person’s sense of belonging. Kenny McQuitty currently serves as the Associate Pastor at

Photo of two little girls holding up a check to Beech Acres Foster Care
Foster Care, foster care month

Flip For Foster Care!

You’ll FLIP for this!  National Foster Care Month UPDATE: Mariah and Aubree have issued a challenge. Will YOU and your family take a stand and raise awareness for Foster Care and FLIP with them?There are just a few days left in Nation Foster Care Month. The girls have raised $3,000 but they are hoping to raise more!They are challenging you to upload a video of yourself, your children, or your whole family “flipping” for foster care!! A ”flip” can be as simple as a somersault. For every “flip” please also consider a $5 donation towards making a difference for Foster Care. Tag Beech Acres Parenting Center and use the hashtag #FlipForFosterCare.Will YOU #flipforfostercare? May is National Foster Care Month and Mariah & Aubree want to make a difference for foster families. This dynamic duo is challenging you to #TakeAChance on #FosterCare by making a donation to Beech Acres Parenting Center. Their goal is $5000, but we have a feeling once you see their giving hearts, they’ll easily crush that goal. This #FosterCareFriday let’s #FlipForFosterCare!  Support Flip For Foster Care There are so many ways to support this campaign. Venmo Calena Durel at Calena-Durel. (If they reach their goal Mom is going to do a flip. 😀) Facebook Fundraiser  Start your own Facebook Fundraiser! Let’s see those flips. Make a secure one-time or monthly online donation. Make sure to choose “Flip For Foster Care” from the drop-down or leave a note indicating you’re supporting Mariah & Aubree. Donate via PayPal.  Leave a note indicating you’re supporting Mariah & Aubree. Call (513) 231-6630 and ask to speak to someone in the development office. 

Blue, pink, and orange graphic for Take A Chance Foster Care Month with a photo of a woman reading to a child
Foster Care, foster care month

Take a Chance on Foster Care This May!

May Is Foster Care Month Each May, we celebrate National Foster Care Month. It’s a time to bring awareness to the incredible need for loving families to open their hearts and their homes to children who just need a place to be loved. It’s also an opportunity to highlight and celebrate the families that have already taken a chance on foster care. Take A Chance There has never been a better time to consider foster care. The need for foster parents in the Greater Cincinnati and Dayton areas is greater than ever. Make a real difference in your community by exploring, supporting, or becoming a foster parent! This May we challenge YOU to take a chance on foster care! How To Become A Foster Parent Becoming a foster family is a tremendous responsibility with an equally tremendous reward. The need for foster families has never been greater. Take your first step by contacting Ryshel today at 1-855-787-KIDS (1-855-787-5437). The licensing process takes approximately 3-6 months. Get started with your required classes now. Check out our Foster Care FAQ for more information. Our comprehensive training program prepares you to succeed. We will train you and guide you on every step of your journey. Click here to see our upcoming training schedule. Why Beech Acres? We’ve been standing behind those who stand up for kids in foster care for more than 40 years. Serving Greater Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Dayton & Montgomery County. We build a community around our foster parents. Our foster families support each other, build each other up, and offer a support network of people with shared experiences and unique perspectives to help every family succeed. Our friends at the Cincinnati Public Library put this reading list together featuring books with children experiencing foster care.

Photos of a family's adoption journey
Foster Care, foster care month, Foster Parents

A Foster Care Mom Shares Her Story

A Typical Morning This morning began like many of my mornings. With one of my kids lying on the floor. “What’s up sweetie?” “I don’t want to brush my teeth!” “Why not?” “Grown-ups don’t have to brush theirs! I’m never brushing them again!” I can’t argue with that logic, at least not this morning. I’ve got 4 kids to get ready for the day and a 9:00 meeting to get to. This morning and every morning are probably just like any other parent’s mornings. Fun, loud, chaotic, stressful, full of love. The entire range of emotions before breakfast! A Desire To Foster My morning may be like any other mom’s morning, but my family is being built a little differently. I am a foster mom and I wouldn’t change this morning or any morning for anything in the world. My husband and I knew a lot of people who were foster parents and thought it was an awesome thing. We had that culture built up around us. My husband had a college professor who had fostered over 80 children over the course of 30 years! We saw a tremendous need as well as the tremendous impact. We wanted to be part of that. A Service Trip Sparks A Flame Seeing the people close to us foster children was a tremendous influence on us, but we didn’t take action until after my husband and I took a service trip to the Philippines. We were interacting with local people in a non-tourist location and witnessed things that had a major impact on our lives. Now, the child welfare system is vastly different in the Philippines than it is here. We visited a church and found a local pastor caring for 15 orphans living there. It broke my heart. We began researching international adoption. We quickly found there were a lot of barriers to us being able to adopt internationally. We realized there were a lot of kids here that needed homes too. Our eyes become open to the needs of children right in our community. How Do You Handle It When A Kid You’ve Fostered Goes Home I was that person! We were that family, that was absolutely terrified. I knew I could love a child that I didn’t grow, but I didn’t know I could handle it when a kid went home. That was my biggest fear. We began our journey with the intention to foster to adopt. We wanted to know that whatever kids we loved we wouldn’t have to say goodbye to. But, this process absolutely changes you. We’ve been fortunate to have adopted one wonderful child (and are in the process of our second!), but we’ve gone from our biggest fear being a kid going home to it being our biggest hope. We’ve seen two kids go home and it’s been fantastic. Seeing a family be successfully reunited, to see them be put back together is a tremendous and humbling accomplishment. I’ve Never Parented (a teenager, a child with special needs, a child with behavioral issues) I Wouldn’t Know What To Do We are capable of so much more than we think we are. We are fostering a teenager right now. I’ve never parented a teenager before, and I don’t know what I’m doing. I taught high school and my husband and I led a youth group. We were around teenagers all the time. We had a lot of experience with teenagers, but we didn’t think we could handle a teen in our home. But it’s not as hard or scary as it seems. We came to realize having a teen in our home is just like loving those teens we taught. There may be new challenges and different circumstances, but if you love a child you can make it work. How Do I Overcome My Fears? Fear holds so many people back. Fear has a way of keeping us from doing things that we would otherwise be great at. The fear of what is it going to be like with the other children in my home. The fear of if their behaviors are out of my control. The fear of losing them. These are all valid fears, but they shouldn’t hold you back from doing what is right. Talk to people who have had experience fostering. Know that you will have support from your agency. At Beech Acres Parenting Center we work to build a supportive community around our foster care families. Know that you will have a network to support you. I Don’t Know Where To Start I didn’t know where to start. I felt like a deer in headlights. The first step is choosing to be brave enough to try. Bravery is not about not being scared. Bravery is about doing what you know is right regardless. We were prepared and wanting to foster for about two years before we moved forward on pursuing licensing. We were emotionally prepared, but not logistically prepared. Seeing how much joy this has brought to our lives, I wish we would have moved forward sooner. I Heard (Insert Myth About Fostering Here) There are a lot of myths out there. Some are true and some, well, not so much. Myth 1: There are too many rules! That’s true. There are a lot of rules. Including a number of strange sounding rules, lots of scrutiny, and many standards to comply with. That is true. Myth 2: You have to be married or have a two-parent home. Not at all! Loving parents come in all shapes and sizes! Almost anyone who is ready to love a child can be a foster parent. We have many successful single parents, unmarried parents, gay parents, straight parents or unmarried partners that foster. Myth 3: There is an income requirement. While it is important that you can demonstrate your ability to financially support a child, your capacity to love a child is not reflected by your financial status. I Think I’m Ready You are

Green foster parent appreciation dinner graphic with colorful sparkles and the Beech Acres logo on it
Beech Acres, Foster Care, foster care month

Foster Care Appreciation Dinner May 18, 2018

Last Friday evening Beech Acres Parenting Center hosted our annual Foster Care Appreciation Dinner. The event was held downtown at Nicholson’s Backstage Event Center. Parents were invited to dress up, enjoy a nice dinner, and be recognized for all of the amazing things they do. 120 parents attend the event and enjoyed delicious food, great conversation, and good community.  Community is an important part of all we do at Beech Acres. Our foster care team works hard to make genuine connections with and between our families creating a strong support network for them. The foster care dinner is an opportunity to recognize these families in a tangible way. Childcare is provided by volunteers at Parkside Christian Church parents can enjoy a nice stress-free evening focused on them. Every family receives an incredible gift basket thanks to the generosity of many individuals, organizations, and local businesses.  Thank you to all of the amazing parents who have opened their hearts and homes to these kids. We are grateful for the love, kindness, and leadership you demonstrate every single day.  Special thanks to the following individuals, groups, and organizations for their contribution to our gift baskets.  Lazer Craze Sky Zone urban salon Nikki Zellen Kim Morris Cincinnati Reds Heather Rothfuss McHarper Manor Rebecca Raby Burke Pete Mesrin Aida Stainback Mary Anne Kuhn Longhorn Steakhouse Cincinnati Bearcats Graeter’s Parkside Christian Church Funny Bone Painting with a Twist – West Coopers Hawk Winery Mariemont Moms Group Jane Destefano chick-fil-a Parkside volunteer group Houdini’s Room Escape Coney Island Waggoner’s Candy Scenic River Canoe Excursions Cincinnati Zoo Kali Thompson George Thompson Katie Taylor Anderson Hills Church Epiphany United Methodist Church New Business Development Team

Photo of a mother and her three children standing in the kitchen as she grabs produce out of a grocery bag
Beech Acres, Foster Care, foster care month, Foster Parents

May Is National Foster Care Month

May is National Foster Care Month! There may never be a “perfect” time to become a foster care family, but there may be a “right” time. The need for loving foster care homes is at a 20-year high. Every day more kids need a place to be safe, to be loved, to just be. Beech Acres Parenting Center prepares you for welcoming a child into your life with excellent training and matching programs. Our support goes beyond our incredible staff by creating real community among our families. Take a step towards making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children. Learn more here.

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