Welcome to the 2018 Fall issue of The Volunteer Post Newsletter, a newsletter for Volunteer & Partner Services Program (VPS) volunteers and partners.
Please join me in welcoming Morgan Cochran to the VPS Program, as the next AmeriCorps VISTA. For her second year of service with AmeriCorps, Cochran will be helping to coordinate the Befriend-A-Child Mentoring Program.
Cochran is a graduate from the University of Virginia College at Wise, earning her Bachelors of Science in Psychology. She has a breadth of experience working with children who have emotional, physical and mental disabilities. She also has worked with vulnerable students by facilitating restorative groups, one-on-one meet ups and tutoring.
Cochran is an avid traveler, and she has combined her love of service with her love of travel on more than one occasion. She has volunteered with at-risk children in Colombia. She also spent three months volunteering in a village in Tanzania, Africa. Her work there included managing groups focused on nutritional and sexual health for pregnant women and promoting safe sexual practices among youth for the prevention of HIV and other STDs.
In her free time, Cochran loves music and dancing. She has studied several styles of dance including ballet, tap and belly dancing. She has played the violin for more than 18 years, and she also plays the guitar, drums and piano. Cochran enjoys learning new instruments and she hopes to learn the viola and cello one day. On occasion, she enjoys curling up with a good book or a taking a nice hike.
A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds here in the United States of America (www.childhelp.org). Children are greatly impacted by child abuse and neglect and sometimes the impact of the abuse lasts a lifetime. In the Department of Family Services Prevention programs, we strive to prevent abuse through providing parents and children with programs to educate and support them. We offer a variety of programs that can make a difference including:
- Healthy Families, where expectant parents or families with a newborn receive support that educates parents on all aspects of child development, as well as regular home visits from a Health Department nurse and a family support worker.
- The Parenting Education Program, which offers parenting classes in which families come together for 12-14 weeknight sessions to learn positive and effective ways parents can interact with their children at every age and stage of development.
- The BeFriend A Child Program, which matches children ages 5-12 (who are involved with the Department of Family Services) with a mentor for two years. The mentors serve as a positive role model in the children’s lives and help them to increase their confidence.
- The Body Safety Program, which educates parents and empowers children by giving them five safety rules to address appropriate and inappropriate behaviors that may occur in their lives.
- The Neighborhood Networks Program supports families as they build on their strengths as parents and leaders, connecting them with people and resources from DFS, Fairfax County Public Schools and the surrounding community.
- Prevention can be a significant means to make changes in the world, but we still have a lot of work to do. We thank our prevention team members for all they do to identify and respond to the needs of the community.
Back to school time is a crazy time of year. Parents are running around trying to get school supplies and children are preoccupied with enjoying summer to its fullest. Parents are lucky if they can get their children to settle on the color of backpack they want. Unfortunately, for some families this time of year can be even more stressful as they struggle to find the funds to support their children’s education.
Here in the Children, Youth and Families Division, we believe that we are facilitators of change and strive to help children and families develop greater resilience. As facilitators of change, we support our families as much as we can in developing their strength and do what we can especially during this time of year.
The Volunteer & Partner Services program works with partners and donors across the county to further support our facilitators of change in the CYF Division. Our partners and donors include a wide range of organizations and individuals who are willing to go out of their way to make an impact on their community. We in VPS are proud of and infinitely grateful for our generous partners and donors.
This school year VPS received nearly 300 backpacks, filled with pencils, notebooks, scissors, and nearly all the supplies needed to start a fresh year of learning. These were provided to families in our community involved with CYF. Fairfax County has the 10th largest school district in the country, with more than 188,000 students, and we hope to empower these children to be ready to learn.
An enormous thank you to all of our hardworking and inspiring facilitators of change and to our incredibly generous partners and donors including McLean Bible Church, the Soteropoulos Family, Alan Young Family, BB&T, Trudy McKnight Family, Christie Johnson, Maggie Belson, Leigh Ann Keller, Sheri Ruffle, Joyce Geater, Fara Maslaki, St Mary’s Church of Sorrow and Fairfax County’s LiveWell program.
Many of us remember the excitement and anticipation felt on the first day of a new school year. Unfortunately for a large number of children in Fairfax County without the resources they need to start the school year, the first day can be filled with anxiety and worry.
The employees of the Fairfax County LiveWell program were inspired to plan a project that encouraged Fairfax County employees to make a difference in the lives of these less fortunate children. After obtaining supply lists from local community schools, LiveWell invited employees to donate supplies for the backpacks and participate in an event to fill the backpacks.
The new initiative, LiveWell Gives Back, is a partnership with Volunteer & Partner Services , who made sure that supplies were distributed to the students by Department of Family Services social workers in time for the first day of school.
Live Well plans to expand LiveWell Gives Back in the future, as well as continuing to build partnerships across Fairfax County in the coming year.
LiveWell is Fairfax County Government’s Workforce Wellness program, housed within the Department of Human Resources. Its mission is to cultivate a culture of wellbeing that empowers, educates and engages Fairfax County employees and retirees to make life-long choices that promote total wellbeing – physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual and financial.
VPS is proud to announce a new partnership with local moving company, Strongmove. This professional moving company not only serves the Metropolitan area, they are committed to serving the community and developing meaningful ties in Fairfax County with businesses, agencies and people who need help. They are now a proud sponsor of Fairfax Department of Family Services and stand ready to assist families who are moving.
Since opening its doors in 2016, Strongmove has operated as a successful moving company with an emphasis on quality of service, exceptional training of staff and five-star customer service. Strongmove’s manager, Ben Serzhan, has more than six years of moving industry experience. Strongmove proudly considers themselves an essential partner in important life transitions. Relocating personal belongings is a major endeavor which means everyone deserves a committed and reliable professional moving team.
Strongmove now partners with Fairfax County Family Services to provide access to these services for all families in our community regardless of their means. Strongmove wants to give back to the community that has supported the growth of the business. Strongmove’s management and workers believes that giving to others strengthens their company and demonstrates their values which include helping others who are less fortunate.
To contact Strongmove, please call at 571-441-1114 or email directly at sales@mystrongmove.com.
We are happy to announce that for the third year the McLean location of MITRE has donated bicycles to Volunteer & Partner Services. The 15 bikes were pre-assembled by MITRE employees, then given to social workers in the DFS Children, Youth and Families Division to distribute to families with children they felt would benefit most from them.
As the AmeriCorps VISTA, I had the pleasure of personally delivering a couple of bikes to a family with 2-year-old twins. I almost didn’t have time to put the bikes on the ground. The moment I set them on the carpet the kids jumped on them with huge smiles on their faces. The parents were extremely grateful because they were not able to provide their kids with bikes at this point in their life. We are very thankful for MITRE’s generous donation and so are the families we serve. We look forward to assisting more families in our community with their help and hope to partner with them again next year.
Recently, a new partnership between the Befriend-A-Child program and the Student and Youth Travel Association led to an exceptional annual trip to Kings Dominion for children in the Befriend-A-Child program.
A current Befriend-A-Child mentor, Henry De Leon, helped to make the connection to SYTA, an organization focused on the power of travel to better children’s character. The SYTA Youth Foundation made it possible to provide admission to the park, along with boxed lunches so the group could enjoy the attractions all day. The SYTA Youth Foundation’s (SYF) mission is “to impact the lives of culturally, linguistically or economically at-risk students and youth through travel experiences that change their lives” (sytayouthfoundation.org). They fulfill their mission by identifying opportunities, providing scholarships, and continuing to enrich the link between travel and character development.
Despite the forecast for rain, the precipitation held off most of the day. The combination of the weather forecast, and scheduling the trip on a weekday ensured that the group spent less time in line and more time on the rides. When the rains finally came, they didn’t dampen the fun, because most of the group was swimming and continued to have a wet and wonderful time.
Befriend-A-Child staff would like to thank the SYTA Foundation and its members for making this wonderful event possible. Their quick action to secure a discounted ticket price and make connections with park representatives, was nothing short of amazing! We are grateful for your partnership, inspired by your mission and excited to work together in the future.
The administrative assistants for the Volunteer & Partner Services Program have been serving our customers and clients at the Department of Family Services every day since the program’s inception five years ago.
This wonderful group of ladies and gentlemen support workers and our clients in a multitude of ways. They may be the first friendly face our clients encounter as they come to the reception desk on the different floors at the Pennino Building. We not only receive support with customer service but also in other areas such as finance, human resources, clerical work and special projects. They are always willing to learn new skills and assist with any task including filing, data entry, copying, creating folders and sending out mailings.
During conversations with these volunteers, one common theme is how nice everyone at the department is to them and how they feel appreciated for the work they do. We are very fortunate to have been chosen by such a diverse, dedicated, and capable group of individuals who volunteer their time and talents to the Department of Family Services. They strive to give back to their community and have found a great match with their skills in the Administrative Assistants Program.
Let’s keep recognizing these great individuals, who give so much to all of us daily, making our jobs and our community stronger for it! Thank you to all our Administrative Assistants.
In July, Volunteer & Partner Services said farewell to Alexandra Stewart. Many may recognize her name from the work she did gathering and distributing donations including baby boxes, bikes, backpacks, coats, pajamas, and many other items. Perhaps you know her from recruiting and organizing the Nurturing Parenting Program volunteers. You may also recognize her from her work with creating, launching and coordinating the Study Buddy Program.
Her talent, drive and ambitious ideas were inspirational for our unit and for many who knew her. As a member of our team, her perspective was always bright and futuristic, just one of her many strengths. While we recognize she is advancing in her professional career, her absence will be felt greatly by VPS and those who knew her. Please join us in wishing her much success in her new position – RestON Coordinator for Cornerstones.
The BeFriend-A-Child program went on its third annual trip to Kings Dominion. It had been raining the weekend prior and all week, but on Wednesday the rained stopped for us. We had 40 mentees and mentors in attendance along with our program coordinator, and two assistant program coordinators. It was an unforgettable day, as many of the children had never been to Kings Dominion, a privilege that many of us may have taken for granted when we were young.
The day started with snacks and a movie on a big, comfy bus. Upon arrival at the park, the children were awed by the size of everything including the enormous rollercoasters peeking above the blanket of trees. In between the laughs, excitement and rides, we stopped to enjoy a wonderful lunch and celebrated one of our mentee’s birthdays, serenading her with a birthday song.
We spent over six hours at the park: riding coasters like the classic Anaconda, Racer 75 (aka the Rebel Yell), the Crypt, and Backlot Stunt Coaster; enjoying the slides and waves at the water park; shooting some hoops, winning prizes and much more. Before we knew it, the rain started to come down, but that didn’t stop the fun. We put on our ponchos and headed for the bumper cars!
On our way back home the bus was quiet, the lights were dimmed, and most of the children and their mentors were fast asleep. We could not have shared this phenomenal experience together if it weren’t for our sponsors, thanks to McLean Bible, Barber DME Supply Group, and Student and Youth Travel Association’s Youth Foundation, partner we hope to work with more in the future.
“All good things must come to an end.” This cliché is the only statement that seems to describe my feelings as my service year with Fairfax County concludes. Joining AmeriCorps and becoming a team member of BeFriend-A-Child has introduced me to the most wonderful and caring people that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. This experience has shown me that amongst all the negativity in life and from the media, there is an incredible amount of positivity in this world. From giving children a positive adult to helping fathers in the detention center in Fairfax County, I have witnessed the dedication of the volunteers and staff.
It would be impossible to name everyone that I have met who has shared their insight and given me support. Just know that the staff, partners, and volunteers have all made a difference in my life and, most importantly, in the lives of the people we serve. I personally would like to thank the Volunteer & Partner Services team for allowing me to join them with open arms and guiding me through this experience. Thank you Krissa Slone, Lindsey Henderson, Cecilia Tatis, Alexandra Stewart, and Francesca Watson (my fellow AmeriCorps member) for your hard work to assist the community in incredible ways, and for giving me an experience of a lifetime.
Our volunteers and partners are the invaluable backbone of Volunteer & Partner Services Program (VPS). This newsletter is published three times a year and shares about events, volunteer data, volunteer opportunities or other general information. We hope this newsletter will keep us all connected!
Whether you’re a seasoned or new volunteer, partner or sponsor, knowing the history of the organization you’re supporting is very important. VPS was developed in September 2013 with the purpose of recruiting top-level volunteers to provide direct or indirect services to prevent child abuse and neglect. VPS is part of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Services within the Department of Family Services Children, Youth and Families division. VPS started with four programs and after gaining momentum began recruiting volunteers for two additional programs. VPS manages the Administrative Assistant Program, BeFriend-A-Child Program and Body Safety Program - Speak Up Be Safe and also recruits volunteers for the Adopt-A-Family Program, Father Engagement Program for Volunteers - Dads Parenting Groups and Parenting Education Program for Volunteers. Each program has individual needs and functions that require volunteers with an array of skill sets. Volunteers continue to apply to help with hopes of making a difference in the community. VPS is honored to recruit, train and provide opportunities to those interested in the prevention of child abuse and neglect. We continue to provide top-level volunteers for the community as we fight to prevent and end child abuse and neglect.
Browse through past newsletters in the archive.