Each and every member of The Villages’ family … our dedicated staff, our invested Board Members, our gracious volunteers, and our heroic foster and adoptive families … share a passion for helping those we are privileged to serve achieve great results! Despite the drastic funding reductions The Villages has experienced during the past four years, we’ve "defied the odds" and made certain that we continue to help every child, youth and family we serve fulfill their potential --- while The Villages help them heal!
ERICKA is a remarkable young woman you’ll learn about on these pages, whose determination and energy charges our batteries daily! Despite a very traumatic childhood, Ericka has graduated from high school, is immersed in her college classes, and has selflessly taken on the responsibility of being the guardian and caregiver for her younger brother --- a young man who was recently discharged from a residential care center. As if all these roles aren’t enough to fill each busy day, Ericka also holds down a job! What a testimony Ericka, and the other 1,400 children served through The Villages, is to our organization’s commitment to results for each child!
JASON, ANDREA and their twin brothers, MARK and MICHAEL are among the 482 children served by The Villages in only ONE foster home while they were with The Villages! Of the 581 children cared for by The Villages’ heroic foster families in 2011, 83% FOUND STABILITY BY BEING IN ONLY ONE FOSTER HOME … an outcome which is among the best in our nation for children who have been abused or neglected by their parents and must be removed from their family of origin. The Villages has a relentless commitment to "matching" each child we are honored to serve in foster care with a foster family which reflects the same ethnicity, geography, and spirituality of the child. The outcome of this intentional, child-centered approach is STABILITY for those nearly 600 children!
The story for Jason, Andrea, Mark and Michael underscores, once more, The Villages’ "passion for permanency" … for they were all ADOPTED by that ONE foster family with whom they lived for nine months … creating a FOREVER FAMILY for these siblings!
It was with trepidation that JEREMY agreed to attend the DADS INC. FAIRY TALE BALL last November with his ten-year-old daughter, Aniya! Why? Because Jeremy had just been released from prison for stealing and had not had any one on one time with his daughter for over two years. Determined to be a better father, Jeremy agreed to create a new beginning with Aniya --- and that is exactly what happened! Thanks to generous DADS INC. and VILLAGES’ DONORS, Jeremy and Aniya had a magical evening … complete with a tuxedo for Jeremy and a new dress for Aniya! Now, they are seeing each other every week … creating a newly established father-daughter bond which will last a lifetime!
Perhaps one of The Villages’ former youth best described why STABILTY, PERMANENCY and RESULTS are so integral to our work when she responded recently on The Villages’ Facebook page!
"I wanted to send a small note telling you how wonderful your organization is. As a child I lived in your Bedford Indiana home. I never knew what a real family was until I lived there. I was taught a lot. I had never felt safe or loved by an adult until I was placed there. It changed my life, and the values I learned there as a child I have carried into my adulthood and passed onto my three children ...you not only made my life better but gave me the skills I needed to make a loving safe environment to raise my own children. Thank you and god bless everyone involved with your organization! You really are changing lives and making a difference!!! God Bless!"
Children, youth and families are vulnerable in every neighborhood and community! But thanks to each of you, The Villages is able to respond to those vital needs! Lives are changed … futures are brighter … and, yes, RESULTS MATTER!
Our deepest thanks for ALL you do to help transform helplessness to HOPE!
With Deepest Gratitude,
President and CEO, The Villages
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