Foster Care/ Adoption Information Open House

Please click on the image above to download the flyer.

On Thursday September 30th at 6PM please join us for a foster care/ adoption information open house in Romney WV. If you don't live near Romney, don't worry, we plan on having one open house event in each region of the state. The first open house will be held at the Bank of Romney Community Building.

The open house is a no commitment relaxed atmosphere event for people who are interested in adopting or providing foster care in WV. An experienced foster mother who has also adopted will be at the open house to speak about the kind of real life experiences you can expect. Also, we will have speakers from the WV Dept. of Health and Human Resources, Children's Home Society and most likely Burlington United Methodist Family Services. At this event, you will be able to learn more about the foster/adoption certification process, waiting children and international adoption.

This open house is FREE and light food will be provided! If you have any questions or would like more information, please call 866-CALL-MWV or email crobey(at)missionwv.org

We hope to see you there and if you would like to help plan the open house events in either region I,II or IV, please call!

What exactly is PRIDE training and how do I sign up?

Any family who is interested in becoming certified to provide foster care and/or adopt a foster child, must complete the PRIDE training course and have a completed homestudy. PRIDE stands for Parent Resources for Information, Development, and Education. The training covers topics including child abuse/ neglect, emotional and behavioral issues, discipline, and overviews of adoption and foster care.

While at the training you will have an excellent opportunity to meet with other families who are also going through the certification process. We also have a letter from a couple who took the PRIDE training and wanted to share more about their experience.

"My husband J and I completed the PRIDE classes last month. We were told we needed 27 hours of training to become foster/adoptive parents. We couldn't imagine what they would teach us since we already raised two boys and have two grandsons. Not that we know it all, but 27 hours?!?! Well, now we would like to say this: The classes provided us with so much information and necessary skills to prepare us for a child who has experienced losses. We had a wonderful teacher who did a great job sharing her knowledge and experiences. We learned things we didn't know anything about and now realize how important this information will be in caring for foster/adoptive children." - J & B from Pennsboro WV

We thank this couple for sharing their story and if you have a positive and encouraging foster/adoptive story to share, please email us! Our email is adopt@missionwv.org

If you are interested in becoming certified, please give us a call at 866-CALL-MWV and we will send you more information. Also, there is a calendar of PRIDE trainings listed on the WVDHHR website and can be viewed by clicking here: http://www.wvdhhr.org/oss/adoption/adoption_calendar/diary.asp

MWV is hiring 4 more Resource Navigators

Mission WV is hiring four "Resource Navigators" to assist and provide resources to families within their own community. Navigators will be available for one on one discussion, attend foster/adoptive related media events, recruit foster parents and spread a positive message about foster care/adoption throughout their community and seek out resources for foster children and kinship/relative families.

If you are intersted in becoming a Resource Navigator, please click here to read more: Letter describing the position and requirements. After reading this information you may decide to apply and you can find the application by clicking here: Resource Navigator Application.

The deadline for the application is September 10th. If you have any questions, please call 304-562-0723 and ask for Carrie. Thanks!

luggage for foster children and youth!

We would like to thank the Charleston Gazette for publishing this article: Luggage for foster kids to help our mission of providing luggage for foster children. We would also like to thank all of the kind people who have called in and donated luggage for foster children. There is a camp for foster children this month in WV and we are most certain all of the children will be able to leave camp with their belongings in luggage - not trash bags! Many foster children end up carrying their belongings around in garbage bags and we are trying to change that. With the kindness and generosity of others, we can accomplish this goal. Pictured above is just a portion of the luggage we have been able to collect as a result of this article. Thank you again and again.

If you have gently used or new luggage to donate, please call 304-562-0723 and ask for Carrie.

New Carrie's Kids Segments!

News anchor/reporter Carrie Cline of WSAZ does a segment called Carrie's Kids. On this segment, Carrie interviews children form KY and WV who are legally eligible to be adopted and they are waiting on a forever family. The Carrie's Kids segments run every other TUESDAY on Channel 3 WSAZ news at approximately 5 o'clock PM. If WSAZ news isn't available in your area, you may watch the videos online by visiting www.wsaz.com/carrieskids

On July 9th, the owners of Camden Park generously opened their park to KY and WV foster children and workers so that Carrie could interview several children. Toby was interviewed while playing a game of air hockey and you can watch his video on the Carrie's Kids page linked above. If you live in WV, expect to see children from WV featured on August 10, September 7, October 5 and on November 2.

If you are interested in providing foster care or adopting a child/youth, please call us at 304-562-0723 or you can reach us by calling our toll free number at 866-CALL-MWV. You may also reach us by email at adopt(at)missionwv.org

Thanks for reading and please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you WSAZ news, Carrie Cline and Camden Park for making this wonderful day at Camden Park possible for foster children.

Announcement: Mini-Grants for adoptive and foster family support groups in WV

Five $500.00 mini-grants will be issued to adoptive and foster family support groups in West Virginia. To apply for a mini-grant, please send your completed application packets to Mission West Virginia by June 25th, 2010. The grant application can be downloaded by clicking here: MWV Mini-Grant Application.

Preference will be given to newly formed or start-up groups. Preference will also be given to groups that have never received a mini-grant from Mission West Virginia before.

There are a few grant guidelines that can also be found by downloading the application.

If you have any questions about the application please call Rachel Probst at 866-CALL-MWV or email rprobst@missionwv.org

This project is made possible by the support of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

Walk Me Home Photos!

WOW! Walk Me Home was AWESOME again this year! Check out this animoto video of photos that were taken at the walk. We can always add more photos to the video, so if you have some to share - please send them our way!

Thanks again to everyone who took part in making this event so successful and fun!