2009 Orientations and training schedule

Orientation: Are you thinking about becoming a foster parent but need more information to determine whether it is the right fit for you? Attend an Information Session to learn more about Youth Villages Foster Care.  Please contact Elisa Parham at 615-250-7270 or elisa.parham@youthvillages.org if interested in attending.

Monday, November 23rd- 12:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 25th- 12:00 p.m.
Monday, December 7th- 12:00 p.m.
Wednesday, December 9th- 5:00 p.m.
Monday, December 14th- 12:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 15th- 5:00 p.m.
Friday, December 18th- 12:00 p.m.
Monday, December 21st- 12:00 p.m.
Wednesday, December 23rd- 12:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 29th- 12:00 p.m.  

Location: 3310 Perimeter Hill Drive, Nashville; receptionist will show you to the room.
Snacks available; children are welcome.

Orientations can also be scheduled to meet your individual needs. Contact Elisa Parham to schedule a private orientation.

PATH (Parents as Tender Healer) trainings:  Have you been thinking about becoming a foster parent and are ready to take the next step?  Call Elisa Parham to learn about upcoming trainings and to reserve your spot.  Spaces fill quickly so call now.

Tuesday and Thursday Evening Nashville Trainings
When: Beginning Tuesday, Jaunary 12th
Last date to join is Tuesday, January 19th
Time: 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Location: Youth Villages' Nashville Office (3310 Perimeter Hill Drive, Nashville)
*Free dinner provided

Saturday and Morning/Afternoon classes available upon request.
Have Training Come to You! Call us to schedule a class in YOUR area.

Parents of four open hearts and home to foster children

Stephen and Colleen Van Matre love being parents. Ten years ago, the biological parents of four opened their hearts and home to children in foster care.

Since moving to Tennessee from Ohio in early 2008, the family has become foster parents with Youth Villages, a private nonprofit organization that provides foster care and other help to children with emotional and behavioral problems. The children Youth Villages helps generally have been abused or neglected, have suffered some type of psychological trauma and need a safe and loving home while they receive counseling and help from professional counselors.

The Van Matres first discovered their passion for helping teenagers through the youth ministry they were involved in. But they wanted to do more.

“The best thing about being a foster parent is seeing the children grow and learn new ways to do things,” Colleen says. “It’s exciting to see how you have an impact on these young people.”

Over the years, the Van Matres also have taken in children of all ages, including an infant of a few months and a teenager who turned 18 while with them. Most of all, the Van Matres have enjoyed fostering teens.

“We love seeing the relationship they build with us start to form and to see their trust grow,” Colleen says.

The children they have fostered may stay a few months or a few years. Most of them stay in touch with the family after they return home to their own families or are adopted by another family.

The goal of the Youth Villages foster care program is to help prepare children in foster care to return to their birth families as quickly as possible, whenever possible. When the child cannot return to his or her parents, Youth Villages looks for other viable members of the child’s biological family who are willing to work with Youth Villages and provide a permanent home for the child.

Foster families like the Van Matres play an important role in helping children reunify with their parents or other relatives.

Foster families often stay in close touch with the child’s family and arrange for visits with them.

Once a child is ready to leave their foster home, the Van Matres tell the child he or she is a member of their family and they want to stay in touch.

Many of their former foster children continue to call the Van Matres to let them know they are doing well. The couple also has become friends with some of their former foster children’s birth parents, and they update one another on how their children are doing.

The most rewarding moment as foster parents for the Van Matres came when they celebrated the high school graduation of one of their foster daughters with a large party. The girl's biological mom and her friends came to celebrate with them. Their foster daughter is now looking for a job and ready to make her way as an independent adult.

But being foster parents is not always easy, and it typically requires hard work, with both the foster children and parents having to be open to making emotionally difficult transitions.

“We encourage our foster children to stay in as much contact with their birth families as possible,” Colleen says. “This is very important for them, and we always encourage them to talk about their feelings. We also try to help them understand to distinguish between the things they can change and those they cannot. These children are not just victims. They have a choice about their future.”

Just as much as they encourage their foster children to make healthy choices about their lives, the Van Matres encourage other couples, singles and families to become foster parents.

“It can be the hardest but it is also the most wonderful thing you will ever do,” Colleen says. “Youth Villages is great. They will give great support and training. We love all of the counselors. They are consistent with meeting with children and doing interactive counseling. The counselors let the families know other choices available. They are supportive with training and doctor visits, and they are always very encouraging and positive.”

To learn more about becoming a foster parent or to become a foster parent, call Elisa Parham, Youth Villages foster parent recruiter in Nashville, at (615) 250-7270 or e-mail her: elisa.parham@youthvillages.org.

The Bartron family puts kids on the track to success

There are countless good reasons to become foster parents. For Derek and Abby Bartron, it's the chance to make a difference in the lives of children that made them open up their hearts and homes to children in foster care.

"It's very satisfying to find that you can make such a difference in a child's life,” Derek says. "Seeing kids' attitudes change and seeing children do better in school and find hope is a wonderful experience."

For a little more than two years, the Bartons have been foster parents to children between the ages of 12 and 15 who could no longer live with their biological families. Children typically are placed into foster care due to serious family problems, such as abuse, neglect or a parent's inability to care for his or her children. Foster families provide loving homes for children in foster care who need a temporary home.

Youth Villages' foster families like the Bartrons do even more: they help children who have developed emotional and behavioral problems learn to deal with past trauma and move on to a more hopeful future. Youth Villages' foster families also help their foster children maintain contact with members of their birth family and reunify with their viable family members whenever possible.   
 
Many people decide to become foster parents after their own children leave home and they become empty nesters. Others become foster parents because they have friends or church acquaintances who have told them about the rewards of being foster parents. For the Bartrons, it was a family tragedy that compelled them to want to provide children and teenagers with the love and care they need to succeed.

“My sister suffered greatly at the hand of emotional neglect,” Derek says.

She eventually committed suicide.

Fostering has allowed the Bartrons to make sure that other children going through difficult times in their young lives experience the love and care they need to find hope and a brighter future.

"Abby and Derek are wonderful foster parents," says Elisa Parham, Youth Villages' foster parent recruiter in Nashville. "They help children find stability and love in a caring family. That's something most of the children who come to Youth Villages have never had the chance to experience."
 
But the Bartrons admit that the road for a child to heal and find hope can be rough.

"The hardest thing is to break down the issues and then to build them up again," Derek says.

"We know that these children need unconditional love above anything," Abby says. "And that's what we want them to experience in our home."

Youth Villages provides foster families with free training, 24-hour support and monthly reimbursements starting at $750 to help offset the costs of adding a child to their household.

To learn more about becoming a Youth Villages foster parent in Davidson County areas, call Elisa Parham today at (615) 250-7270 or send her an e-mail: elisa.parham@youthvillages.org. For Mid-Cumberland Counties, call Paige Roady at (615) 250-7318 or send her an e-mail: kristin.roady@youthvillages.org. Become a foster parent and help a child find the way home.