“Where do I fit in?” An Overview of Opportunities along the Orphan Care Continuum: Is God calling you to take the next step in learning about opportunities to care for orphans or vulnerable children? Learn from a diverse panel of experienced volunteers and parents about ways you can be involved, from supportive and mentor relationships to bringing children into your home. This session will cover various types of Adoption, Foster Care, Safe Families, Wrap-Around Family Care and Mentoring. Facilitator - Stacey Goodson.
Trauma 101 with Scripture Infusion - Sara Blomeling DeRoo: This session will give foster and adoptive parents a base knowledge of trauma and how it affects the children they are caring for. This workshop will also infuse scriptures throughout to utilize during the day to day of parenting children from difficult places.
Caring for Me, So I Can Care for You - Liz Sharda: Foster and adoptive parenting is not for the faint of heart! It's one of the most demanding jobs in the world, and it is certainly not a 9-to-5! It's easy to lose track of our own needs, but it is absolutely essential that we care for ourselves, for our own good and our children's. This workshop will provide both information and strategies to equip parents in the challenging work of caring for the self while caring for others.
Identifying Triggers - Amanda Stienstra and Cheri Van Assen: This interactive workshop will assist you in identifying triggers behind our children’s challenging behaviors and how our own triggers can impact those behaviors and relationships. We will be sharing practical advice and specific tools through group discussions, demonstrations and a list of resources to take home. Come prepared with current challenging behaviors in mind and let’s work together to find some possible solutions.
Adult Adoptee and Foster Alumni Panel Discussion
As passionate people who nurture children in crisis and various stages of healing, it’s common to wonder what the children aren’t telling us, are afraid to tell us, or don’t understand yet themselves. How might these valuable insights make us better parents, mentors, caregivers, and friends? No matter how far along you are on your journey, bring your honest questions and be prepared to learn rich lessons from adults who were adopted from various situations or foster kids themselves. Families can thrive in the midst of the transition and enjoy life while dealing with the “hard stuff”. Facilitator - Stacey Goodson.
Trauma 101 with Scripture Infusion - Sara Blomeling DeRoo: This session will give foster and adoptive parents a base knowledge of trauma and how it affects the children they are caring for. This workshop will also infuse scriptures throughout to utilize during the day to day of parenting children from difficult places.
Caring for Me, So I Can Care for You - Liz Sharda: Foster and adoptive parenting is not for the faint of heart! It's one of the most demanding jobs in the world, and it is certainly not a 9-to-5! It's easy to lose track of our own needs, but it is absolutely essential that we care for ourselves, for our own good and our children's. This workshop will provide both information and strategies to equip parents in the challenging work of caring for the self while caring for others.
Identifying Triggers - Amanda Stienstra and Cheri Van Assen: This interactive workshop will assist you in identifying triggers behind our children’s challenging behaviors and how our own triggers can impact those behaviors and relationships. We will be sharing practical advice and specific tools through group discussions, demonstrations and a list of resources to take home. Come prepared with current challenging behaviors in mind and let’s work together to find some possible solutions.
Adult Adoptee and Foster Alumni Panel Discussion
As passionate people who nurture children in crisis and various stages of healing, it’s common to wonder what the children aren’t telling us, are afraid to tell us, or don’t understand yet themselves. How might these valuable insights make us better parents, mentors, caregivers, and friends? No matter how far along you are on your journey, bring your honest questions and be prepared to learn rich lessons from adults who were adopted from various situations or foster kids themselves. Families can thrive in the midst of the transition and enjoy life while dealing with the “hard stuff”. Facilitator - Stacey Goodson.