Boys & Girls Village recently held its Foster & Adoptive Parent Appreciation Dinner, an annual event to honor the foster and adoptive families, past and present, who have welcomed children into their homes through the Boys & Girls Village Therapeutic Foster Care program.
More than 130 people attended the event, held at the Race Brook Country Club in Orange, including current foster and adoptive parents and children, “retired” foster parents, adoptive families and members of Boys & Girls Village’s Board of Directors and Boys & Girls Village staff.
“Without our foster parents, some of the most vulnerable children in our state would be without a stable home environment,” said Carol Smith Harker, Chair of Boys & Girls Village Board of Directors. “We cannot thank these hardworking people enough for providing countless children with warm, loving, and supportive homes in which to grow up.”
Boys & Girls Village’s Therapeutic Foster Care program, which currently serves 61 children in the Greater Bridgeport, New Haven, and Waterbury areas, matches qualified foster parents with children in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF).
Through the Therapeutic Foster Care program, foster parents are provided training, education and access to community resources that support them as they provide safe and loving homes for children. Finding permanent homes for children, whether with relatives or with committed adults in foster care, has been central to Boys & Girls Village’s mission of helping at-risk children succeed in life.
About Boys & Girls Village:
Helping children and their families gain a full life has been the goal at Boys & Girls Village for more than 70 years. Boys & Girls Village gives some of Connecticut’s most vulnerable children and families the opportunity to heal, learn and grow.
With operations in Milford and Bridgeport, Boys & Girls Village provides comprehensive care through its array of behavioral health, educational and family programs for children and adolescents at-risk. Their programs provide youth with evidence-based clinical treatment programs, a K to 9th grade school, family based in-home and outpatient treatment services, therapeutic foster care, a residential program for youth with problem sexual behavior, a live-in alternative to a hospital unit and community outreach support.
Clients come from 50 different communities in Connecticut, with the majority residing in Fairfield and New Haven counties. The children and adolescents who become part of the Boys & Girls Village family range in age from 3-18 years old and are cared for by a staff of highly trained professionals including child psychiatrists, psychologists, nursing staff and a highly trained and dedicated group of paraprofessionals. Learn more at www.bgvillage.org.
Pictured: Former Boys & Girls Village foster mom Judith Ortiz with her adopted children at the organization’s recent Foster and Adoptive Parent Appreciation Dinner, an annual event to honor the foster and adoptive families, past and present, who have welcomed children into their homes through the Boys & Girls Village Therapeutic Foster Care Program.
Left to Right: Angelica J. Ortiz, Adelina J. Ortiz, Judith Ortiz, Andres J. Ortiz, Luis J. Ortiz, and family friend Luis O. Fuentes