| 3rd Annual ‘Raise the Roof’ for Boys Town Secures $29,422.00 on Giving Tuesday | https://www.boystown.org/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/Pages/3rd-Annual-Raise-the-Roof-for-Boys-Town-Secures-29422-on-Giving-Tuesday.aspx | 3rd Annual ‘Raise the Roof’ for Boys Town Secures $29,422.00 on Giving Tuesday | <p>
<em>This article is written by Tadlock Roofing. It was <a href="https://www.tadlockroofing.com/3rd-annual-raise-the-roof-for-boys-town-secures-29422-00-on-giving-tuesday/?fbclid=IwAR2douOgxsyjLq7EoZTlF5ibunBZtdGRh4X9xAt6MJ3FYxaffoDSROcb8T0">posted on tadlockroofing.com</a> on December 4, 2019.</em></p><p>On Tuesday, December 3, Tadlock Roofing in partnership with Boys Town North Florida, held the 3rd Annual 'Raise the Roof' for Boys Town Match Campaign and secured the highest donation to-date. The event raised a grand total of $29,422.00 within TWO Hours.</p><p>Boys Town North Florida challenged five of the Boys Town North Florida Champions, nominated from within the Big Bend Community, to each raise $2,500 by 7:30pm. Each of the champions were assigned a Boys Town family home and spent from 5:30-7:30pm phoning-a-friend in a friendly competition to collectively reach and exceed their team goal first. Boys Town North Florida partner, Tadlock Roofing, matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000 raised on Giving Tuesday and presented Boys Town Director of Development with a BIG check at the conclusion of the event.</p><p>More children are coming into the Florida foster care system after a sweeping child-welfare reform law went into effect several years ago. Boys Town North Florida has given thousands of at-risk children the love, support and education they need to succeed and offers an alternative to traditional foster-care with a Boys Town Campus on the West side of Tallahassee. Boys Town North Florida serves more than 1,000 children in our community. It costs $40,841 to sustain a home on campus for 1 month and $3,403 to support a child for 1 month.<br></p> | 2019-12-05T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="Tadlock" src="/locations/north-florida/PublishingImages/tadlock.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| After a Bumpy Road, Siblings Find Their Forever Home | https://www.boystown.org/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/Pages/Siblings-Find-Their-Forever-Home.aspx | After a Bumpy Road, Siblings Find Their Forever Home | <p>Siblings Sharron, Stephen and Aleah Duggar finally found their forever family. But there were a lot of bumps along the way. </p><p>Their journey began when they had to be removed from their home. </p><p>The siblings grew up in poverty and neglect. Their own parents were addicted to drugs and had a meth lab in the home. The house was dirty and in poor condition, and the children were physically and emotionally neglected. Both parents had arrest histories and the father spent time in jail. </p><p>In 2013, Stephen (age 3) and Aleah (age 4) were placed in the Boys Town North Florida Foster Family Services<sup>®</sup> program. Three months later, Sharron (age 2) came to live with her siblings. </p><p>In a foster home, Boys Town Family Consultants worked with the children's foster parents to help them address the sibling's problem behaviors and past traumas. Since their biological parents had lost their parental rights, the goal was to eventually find the children an adoptive home. </p><p>Finding a forever home for children is always a challenge. Sometimes, there are several stops and starts before that miracle takes place. After one pre-adoption placement didn't work out for the three siblings, they moved back with their original foster parents.</p><p>That's when Steve and Lee Duggar got involved. </p><p>It started when one of Aleah's teachers mentioned to a friend, Lee Duggar, three siblings at her school were hoping to be adopted. </p><p>“Lee started inquiring about the kids and then called Boys Town to ask about them," said Sara Soria, Program Support Services Coordinator for Boys Town North Florida. “Eventually, Lee and her husband, Steve, met the kids and fell in love with them. Soon after, they wanted to adopt all three children." </p><p>The Duggars worked with Boys Town In-Home Family Services<sup>®</sup> to further develop their parenting skills and create a consistent home routine and schedule that would make the children's transition to their home easier and help set them and the family up for success. </p><p>In addition, the site's Care Coordination Services helped link the Duggars to additional community resources and monitored those services. </p><p>“The Duggar's were open to working with us," said Soria. “The teamwork between the foster parents and Lee and Steve was great and that was really good for the kids." </p><p>On July 19, 2018, Sharron, Stephen and Aleah officially became members of the Duggar family. Currently, the kids are thriving in their loving forever home. </p><p>“This was a team effort and that's why it worked out so well," Soria said. “It was successful because everybody involved worked together for what was best for the kids."<br></p> | 2019-11-26T06:00:00Z | News | | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Boys Town North Florida Alum Is First Recipient of James Dahl Education Award | https://www.boystown.org/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/Pages/BoysTownNorthFloridaAlumIsFirstRecipientofJamesDahlEducationAward.aspx | Boys Town North Florida Alum Is First Recipient of James Dahl Education Award | <p>Billy Martin was a teen struggling in school and in his personal life when he entered a Boys Town North Florida Treatment Family Home in June 2018. </p><p>A year later, Billy had completed his program at Boys Town and graduated from Godby High School with a 3.1 grade point average. He also scored a 1420 (out of a possible 1600) on his SAT and a 32 (out of possible 36) on his ACT.</p><p>This fall, Billy started classes at Polk State College in Winter Haven, Florida, where he is studying computer systems and business analysis.</p><p>Billy's amazing turnaround in the face of great adversity was due in large part to the treatment and care he received in his Boys Town Treatment Family Home. There, he learned social and life skills to deal with is personal issues, and found a new motivation to excel in the classroom. His accomplishments are even more eye-opening when you consider that he missed the second half of his junior year in high school, and faced the possibility of never graduating or continuing his education.</p><p>"Billy is an amazing young man who is driven and determined to do well," said Boys Town Consultant Millie Kilpatrick.</p><p>In recognition of his outstanding efforts, Billy was the first-ever recipient of the James Dahl Education Award, presented at Boys Town North Florida's Youth Awards Gala in July. The annual event honors all of the youth in the site's Treatment Family Home Program for their academic and personal achievements.</p><p>The James Dahl Education Award was created as a memorial to the late son of a longtime friend of Boys Town North Florida. The annual award will help provide financial support to Billy and future recipients as they pursue their career goals, and ensure that youth served by the site have the educational opportunities they need and deserve. This support includes hiring professional tutors to work with youth and providing educational experiences such as art classes and cultural lessons. </p><p>Boys Town North Florida has been helping children and families in the Tallahassee area since opening as the first Boys Town affiliate site in 1983. Every year, the site's programs and services touch the lives of more than 5,000 people throughout the region.</p> | 2019-11-14T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="Billy Martin proudly displayed his diploma after graduating with Godby High School’s class of 2019." src="/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/PublishingImages/Billy_grad_photo_with_diploma.jpg?RenditionID=2" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Boys Town Foster Parents Help Keep Family Close, Despite Separation and Distances | https://www.boystown.org/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/Pages/BoysTownFosterParentsHelpKeepFamilyCloseDespiteSeparationandDistances.aspx | Boys Town Foster Parents Help Keep Family Close, Despite Separation and Distances | <p>For Boys Town North Florida Therapeutic Foster Parents Lex and Debbie Collins, caring for their youth and trying to keep families together are always top priorities.</p><p>For 17-year-old Rainee-Gray, the Collinses' efforts have meant that she and her siblings have been able to stay in touch with their own parents through difficult times.</p><p>Rainee-Gray arrived at the Collinses' home as a non-relative placement back in 2014. Lex and Debbie also took in Rainee-Gray's younger brother and older sister so the kids could stay together for as long as possible.</p><p>Unfortunately, the parental rights of Rainee-Gray's and her siblings' mom and dad were terminated in the winter of 2016. It was a tough time for all the kids. </p><p>But Rainee-Gray and her brother and sister didn't want to totally lose touch with their parents. They let the Collinses know this, and Lex and Debbie did what they could through the courts to overturn a "no contact" order.</p><p>The Collinses knew how important family connections were. Through persistence and with the court's blessing, they began facilitating supervised family visits for the kids and their mother and father as often as Rainee-Gray and her siblings wanted to see them.</p><p>"Since the kids were older when they came to us, and their parents were still in the area, we felt it would be best if they had supervised contact with them, since they would need to be able to navigate those relationships once they became 18," Lex said. "In this case, we were able to petition the court and it was accepted."</p><p>The Collinses' work to keep the family connected did not stop there.</p><p>Rainee-Gray has one other brother with significant mental health and behavioral needs. His needs make it necessary for him to live a long distance from Rainee-Gray and his other siblings. Again, Lex and Debbie stepped in to make arrangements for the whole family to see each other.</p><p>They worked to organize visits with the brother for holidays and even made the long trip by car to bring him back to their home for a four-day visit. Lex and Debbie bought him Christmas gifts and celebrated with all the children in their home. During the visit, they also made sure all the kids saw their mother and father by supervising visits. They continue to arrange visits with the brother several times a year, planning fun activities like fishing, hunting and boating.</p><p>"It has ultimately been good for everyone, though these situations are always difficult," Lex said. "Once their biological parents realized we were actually on their side, too, it became somewhat easier. We always want to do what's best for the biological family when we can."</p><p>For Lex and Debbie Collins, family is everything.</p> | 2019-08-26T05:00:00Z | News | | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Adoption Brings Happy Ending to Girl’s Search for Forever Family | https://www.boystown.org/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/Pages/adoption-brings-happy-ending-to-girls-search-for-forever-family.aspx | Adoption Brings Happy Ending to Girl’s Search for Forever Family | <p>Persian was an 11-year-old girl who desperately wanted a family of her own.</p><p>Patrick and Brennen Cannon were a couple who were ready to open their home and their hearts to a child who needed love and guidance.</p><p>Thanks to Boys Town North Florida's help, Persian now calls Patrick and Brennen "Dad" and "Mom."</p><p>Rewind to several years ago. Persian had come to Boys Town North Florida as a foster child. She had been through three unsuccessful adoptions, partly due to problems in those families and partly because of her behavioral issues, which included not following instructions and not being able to express her feelings appropriately. These difficulties also had hurt Persian's progress in school.</p><p>In her Boys Town Family Home, Persian had bonded with her Family-Teachers<sup>®</sup>, the trained married couple who cared for and taught skills to her and other girls in the residence. This was important because when Patrick and Brennen entered the picture as possible adoptive parents for Persian, the Family-Teachers immediately began mentoring them on how to address and teach to her behaviors. </p><p>The Cannons, from the very beginning, were both engaged and willing to do whatever was required to adopt Persian and provide her with the home, love and structure she needed. They even took Boys Town foster care classes in order to become licensed therapeutic foster parents and use all the strategies Boys Town uses with the youth in its care, as well as received the ongoing support needed by consultants in this program. </p><p>At first, Persian expressed interest in being adopted by the Cannons, but also would say she was "not ready for that yet." However, in March 2018, she moved in with Brennen and Patrick to prepare for that big event. After just a few weeks in her new home, she fell in love with the couple and began to call them "Mom" and "Dad."</p><p>On August 9, 2018, Persian was formally adopted by the Cannons. The little girl who had waited so long had finally found her forever family.</p><p>Today, Persian is friends with the kids in her new neighborhood and has gotten to know many other members of the Cannons' extended family. She still has some difficulty expressing her feelings, and Patrick and Brennen continue to work with her on using skills like having empathy and compromising. But whatever happens, the bond they share helps them get through it together as a loving family. </p><p>"With the addition of Persian, our family has become complete," Brennen said. "She is energetic, kind and smart. We can't imagine our lives without her."</p> | 2019-08-06T05:00:00Z | News | <img alt="" src="/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/PublishingImages/P.Cannon-Photo-3.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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