Family Development

New VISTA Program Offers Jobs that Make a Difference

Are you looking for a way to change people’s lives? Want a job where you can make a difference? The Sojourners VISTA Program may be just what you need. The Sojourners VISTA Program will provide ten individuals an opportunity to use their talents and skills to help young people living in Appalachian Ohio. Our VISTA [...]

Foster Care Program Flourishes

      The Foster Care program of our Family Development division has been growing in recent months. We now carry an average census of between 70 and 80 young people in care.  Youth are placed in one of our 35 foster care and adoption homes in Allen, Athens, Auglaize, Fayette, Gallia, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, [...]

Foster Care Christmas Party Enjoyed by All

Our 2011 Foster Care Christmas party was the largest in the history of our organization. 151 foster families members and staff attended the dinner, which took place in the McArthur Fireman’s Hall on Friday, December 9. The division of Family Development worked for months preparing for the event. Funding for the seasonal celebration was provided [...]

Office Reorganization Adds Training and Community Space

Sojourners has recently reorganized office space. The big move was initiated because of the addition of a new location. In order to provide more space for Youthbuild and our new National Emergency Grant Program (NEG), we have rented a large facility about two miles west of McArthur for our Sojourners Training Center. The building’s 25,000 square [...]

Adoption Program Honored in Nation’s Capital

Janie and Senator Mary Landrieu (LA) during Angels in Adoption pinning ceremony US Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio) recently nominated the adoptive program of our division of Family Development to be recognized as an Angel in Adoption. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s (CCAI) Angels in  Adoption™ Program provides Members of Congress the opportunity to honor an [...]

The World Came to Sojourners

Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, South Sudan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, USA This summer, Sojourners had an exciting opportunity to collaborate with Ohio University in Athens in an exciting educational project with UNICEF. The university was one of just four in the United States chosen to host a UNICEF Communications for Development (C4D) training for UNICEF officers [...]

May in National Foster Care Month

      Each May, National Foster Care Month provides an opportunity to shine a light on the experiences of the more than 400,000 children and youth in the foster care system. The campaign raises awareness about the urgent needs of these young people and encourages citizens from every walk of life to get involved [...]

Foster Parent Wins National Award

  Our foster care parents come from all walks of life and work in many different professions. Recently one of our foster fathers won national honors as a top professional in his field. Jim Bailey, an Orkin pest control technician, was named Commercial Technician of the Year by Pest Control Technology magazine. Jim, and his [...]

Good Food for Foster Care Families

Good food for our foster care kids. It seems a simple proposition, but the Sojourners Food Bank requires planning and volunteers to succeed. Each month the Food Bank provides food staples and some fun items to an average of 18 foster care families in the Sojourners foster care network. The food is purchased from the [...]

Adoption Program Success From Start

   When Janie Rhoads, now Sojourners’ Director of Family Development Programs, joined our staff last spring she brought with her skills which have helped Sojourners fulfill one of its missions—to help young people in foster care find forever families. Janie worked with Steve Clever, then our Director of Foster Care, to augment our policies to [...]