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Volume 3, Issue 2

 

People. In a field where continuity of relationships is so central to our work and where staff turnover can pose major problems, we’ve been fortunate to attract and keep good people for considerable periods. Despite adding several new Family Consultants recently due to growth, the average length of service among Valley Family Consultants is over 9 years. Taken together, full time Valley staff have logged some 373 years with the agency - an average of nearly 14 years per. The numbers may help explain why it feels so much like family here. 

 

Services.  Valley youth were active helping others this summer. Our Community Relations Group led by Counselor Sally Koch M.Ed., LPC raised nearly $500 for Ride With Pride through a variety of such labor-intensive activities as car washes, bake sales, yard work and doggie picture day where employee’s brought in their dogs for a photo Shoot . After a year together learning independent living skills, a second group of older teens elected to focus their summer energies on making a difference for others. Led by Family Consultant Angel

Text Box: Cooper and Pygmalion School Principal, Carol Bright, the group raised $168 for the New Directions Women’s Shelter in Staunton. They also pooled their snack money to stock “birthday bags” with toy’s and necessaries for moms and children at the Shelter. Congratulations to both of our power groups of helpers! The Valley office’s fall schedule of Independent Living Skills groups is a full one. Daily Living Skills for older foster and adopted adolescents continues with Angel and Carol on Mondays. On Tuesdays, Counselor Sally Koch M.Ed., LPC and Family Consultant Missy Berry lead It’s a Girl Thing focusing on special issues facing early adolescent girls. It’s a Boy Thing meets on Wednesdays led by Family Consultant Marie Hartley and Sally. Carol Bright and Pygmalion School Teacher Cindy Wood lead the Education Support group on Wednesdays to provide group and individual tutoring to People Places youth in public school. On Thursdays, Cathy Blinn LCSW and Jane Steele of Ride with Pride lead Anger Awareness with Horses at CeText Box: dar Creek Stables. Participants work on recognizing and managing feelings as caregivers for and partners with their specially trained equine friends. Preservice training sessions began in September for prospective foster and adoptive parents in both our Staunton and Harrisonburg offices. An Anger Awareness & Attachment in-service for foster and adoptive parents is scheduled for late fall in our Harrisonburg office. Family Consultants Molly Pallavicini and Kristina Blakely along with Cville Director Doris Moore MSW and therapist Laurie Bonney LCSW have returned from an intensive week of training at the annual ATTACH Conference in New Mexico in September. The team will synthesize and present what they learned in a series of in-services for People Places’ staff. Text Box: nity setting. We are hopeful this will ease some of the transportation issues that inevitably arise in delivering group counseling. PPC also conducts our second therapeutic horsemanship group this fall, under the able guidance of Ride With Pride Director Deb Winters and CART Director Sarah Daley. Our first horsemanship sequence was a wonderful experience ending in June with a lovely horse show presented by our children for their friends and families. The show gave our kids a great opportunity to proudly display their new equestrian skills. It was an exciting afternoon! Our Summer Training Program headed up by Donnell Smith completed the summer having served 18 People Places and other community youth from age 12 through 18. STP youth worked in a variety of sites, including Meals on Wheels and the Salvation Army. Many thanks to these Text Box: People. Adoption Coordinator Stephanie Snider LCSW and therapist Laurie Bonney LCSW along with Valley colleague Rick Cook recently completed a 6-month intensive training with Dr. Bob Marvin of UVA’s Attachment Clinic. The training was designed to support local therapists and other foster care/adoption professionals in work with attachment-challenged children and their families. Family Consultants Erin Garcia and Michele Weiss MSW are back from Atlanta to report on the North American Foster Family-based Treatment Association Conference there in July. People Places is a founding member of FFTA. Our own Penny Combs serves on the association’s national Board. Services. PPC starts the new school year off with two groups for youth. Therapist Laurie Bonney and Program Supervisor Douglas Johnson Jr. co-lead an Anger Awareness group in Fluvanna - our first time holding groups in a separate commuText Box: and all community work site sponsors. The STP crew created a wonderful photo montage illustrating their accomplishments and shared it at our family picnic held August 12 in Pen Park. STP youth and staff worked very hard and had a productive summer filled with new experiences and learning opportunities sure to help prepare them for the adult world of work.

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