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Santa visits foster, adopted children
Published December 21, 2007
LOGANVILLE — Walton County’s adopted and foster children were not forgotten by Santa this year.
Walton County Department of Family and Children’s Services, with the help of Loganville Community Ministry Village, made sure of that.
“This has been done for us in the past by Loganville Christian Academy, but this year for the first time the Loganville Community Ministry Village held the Christmas Party for us and they have done a great job,” said Lisa Edmunds of Walton County DFCS. “All the children attending are wards of the state or foster children who have now been adopted.”
Edmunds said those in attendance at the Christmas party included the foster or adopted children, their foster or adoptive parents and some of the birth parents as well.
“They all had a great time,” Edmunds said.
Adoptive parent Tracy Bruner took photos of her two adopted children — Miles, 9, and Kloie, 5 — as they sat on Santa’s knee to share their Christmas wish list.
“They have three of their own children and then adopted Miles and Kloie after fostering them,” Edmunds said. “Foster parents are special. It takes a very special person to be able to foster children and they need a lot of support.”
Chet Fowler, LCMV director, said that’s where the ministry village comes in.
“We have the foster care support center to provide resources and training for foster family,” Fowler said. “We provide things such as school supplies and clothing. Also training like a CPR class for foster parents.”
The LCMV partners with local churches and businesses and also raises funds through grants to get resources for these services.
“We also get fees from the counseling services that we offer on a sliding scale according to someone’s financial situation,” Fowler said. “We are affiliated with Loganville First Baptist Church but the ministry village is a separate 501(c)3 non-profit organization.”
Fowler said they have plans to offer many services through LCMV but for the time being services for children in need are so great they have had to concentrate on that.
“We have the Supervised Visitation Center for families who have been separated by the juvenile court system,” Fowler said. “And we are starting the Child Advocacy Center.”
Families meeting at the supervised visitation center undergo a court-ordered plan to reconcile. They remain in foster care until the plan is completed. It is a positive alternative to court-mandated supervised visitations taking place in the crowded confines of the DFACS office.
Fowler said the plan is for the Child Advocacy Center to eventually be a safe place where children in the community who have been sexually abused can be housed. At the moment, children from Walton County have to be taken out of the county to a facility at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Edmunds said the need for foster parents is great and growing in the county.
“Anyone who feels they have it in their hearts to help these children can find out about becoming foster parents at 1-877-210-KIDS (5437),” Edmunds said.
Anyone wanting to find out more about the LCMV can get the link to the Web site at http://www.fbcloganville.org.
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