| Boys Town National Alumni Services and North Florida Partner to Answer the Call "Home" for Alumni | https://www.boystown.org/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/Pages/Answer-the-Call-Home-for-Alumni.aspx | Boys Town National Alumni Services and North Florida Partner to Answer the Call "Home" for Alumni | <p>The transition to adulthood and self-sufficiency can be challenging for any young person. For youth in the child welfare system, this transition can be even more challenging. Demonstrating Boys Town's commitment to youth, National Alumni Services and Boys Town North Florida partnered to provide support to Stanley Williams, a Boys Town North Florida alumni.<br></p><p>In 2019, Stanley successfully completed the residential program and transitioned into the independent living program. He enrolled into a local community college in Tallahassee, Florida, and earned several industry certifications, leading him into an online program at the university.</p><p>Over the years, Executive Director Marcus Lampkin has served as the primary contact for North Florida youth who have found themselves without any other options, requiring them to call “home" for support. “Unlike other college students who typically have supportive relationships and connections, kids who transition from the child welfare system after turning eighteen rarely have the same support systems or 'safety nets,'" said Lampkin. “This is not the case for our Boys Town alumni. In fact, we take pride in instilling in our youth that we are a family, and should they find themselves in need of a 'hand up' as they transition into adulthood, we are here to support them."</p><p>Earlier this year, Stanley experienced a major bump in the road. He lost his housing of two years and found himself homeless. After a two-week period, Stanley reached out and called “home" to ask for help. Loma Garland, an Administrative Assistant at Boys Town North Florida, spoke to Stanley and immediately forwarded his call to Lampkin.</p><p>Stanley explained to Lampkin that he had finally built up the nerves to call and ask for help after a few nights living on the streets while continuing to work and register for online courses for the upcoming semester. He further explained that feeling defeated and having nowhere else to turn, he decided to reach out for help. Lampkin immediately went to locate Stanley, and using local resources set aside for such incidents, placed him in temporary housing.</p><p>Understanding the need for additional supports, Lampkin reached out to Tony Jones, Vice President of After Care Services. Without hesitation, Tony connected Lampkin with national resources, providing additional financial support for Stanley's temporary housing until he transitioned into his new apartment. The partnership between Boys Town's National Alumni Services and Boys Town North Florida, in conjunction with local supports was instrumental and truly a blessing to meet Stanley's needs.<br></p><p></p> | 2021-11-18T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="alumni" src="/locations/north-florida/PublishingImages/Alumni.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />
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| A letter from our new Executive Director | https://www.boystown.org/locations/central-florida/news-and-events/Pages/A-letter-from-our-new-Executive-Director.aspx | A letter from our new Executive Director | <p>Dear friends of Boys Town, <br></p><p>I am so excited to be a part of the Boys Town family! I have been working within child welfare in Central Florida for the past 18 years, and the Boys Town reputation of results driven focus and attention to children and families speaks for itself. I would love to share a little bit about myself.</p><p>I am originally from Pennsylvania and moved to Florida with my husband 20 years ago. I entered the social services arena while still pursuing an undergrad in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and recognized quickly that serving children and families would be a collision of passion and career for my future. Upon moving to Florida, within a year I reentered the social service arena again, right after privatization and started working within a local Case Management Organization. I was within this arena for nine years working within in-home services, out of home, foster care, licensing and adoption. My next role was working within Juvenile Justice reform and re-entry to prevent recidivism for six years and then returned to the adoption world working as an Executive Director focusing on adoption, preventative services, unaccompanied minors, and refugee resettlement for three years. </p><p>Throughout my career, there has been one constant, and that has been my passion for helping at risk families.</p><p>I am eager to bring this passion and experience to Boys Town Central Florida. Though I am new to Boys Town, I am not new to the community, the work of serving the vulnerable, nor results driven leadership. </p><p>I can say with certainty that I am where I am meant to be. Within my first week at Boys Town I have met many staff that share this passion of helping and serving others. I am looking forward to the future of Boys Town Central Florida and am grateful for the amazing roots that are planted at our campus. </p><p>I'm excited to meet each of you and have an opportunity to listen to your Boys Town stories as well. </p><p>Cheerfully,<br></p><p>
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Laurie Stern, MPA<br><span style="background-color:transparent;">Boys Town Central Florida Executive Director</span><span style="background-color:transparent;"></span></p> | 2021-11-18T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="Laurie Stern" src="/locations/north-florida/PublishingImages/Laurie-Stern.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Former Boys Town North Florida Youth Graduates Early | https://www.boystown.org/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/Pages/Former-Boys-Town-North-Florida-Youth-Graduates-Early.aspx | Former Boys Town North Florida Youth Graduates Early | <p><span style="background-color:transparent;">As the saying goes, it's not how you start but how you finish. This saying rings true for Jeal'Dealiar.</span></p><p>Born addicted to crack cocaine and living with a parent who frequently used substances, the beginning of her life appeared to be a negative one. “The negative behaviors began in 2010 when my father passed away," said Jeal'Dealiar. “This loss was very devastating." As a result, she began to cope with this loss by rejecting love from family that was there to protect and care for her.</p><p>In 2015, Jeal'Dealiar and her brother were removed from their mother's care and placed with relatives, where she displayed anger and frustration by lashing out on the family that took her in. Because of her anger, Jeal'Dealiar was placed into the Family Home program where she learned how to cope with life's negativity and disappointments. The eight months that she spent in the program prepared her to return home with her relatives that loved her so much.</p><p>Once Jeal'Dealiar was back with her relatives, they were referred to the In-Home Family Services program. The family was assigned to consultant Monica Smart-Gainous, who worked with the family for ten weeks to teach parenting skills, link them to resources, and be a support to identify new ways to cope and address negative behaviors displayed by Jeal'Dealiar.</p><p>The family began to see a positive change. There were a few bumps in the road, but negative behaviors slowly began to fade as Jeal'Dealiar began to change her way of thinking. Her behaviors of lashing out at family began to decrease and her grades and behaviors at school improved.</p><p>Jeal'Dealiar truly proves that it's not how you start but how you finish. Not only did she graduate high school, but she graduated a year early from Success Academy in Tallahassee. She is currently employed, has her own apartment, and is striving to be the best person she can be. She plans to attend Tallahassee Community College in January 2022 to study Emergency Services to ultimately become a firefighter.</p><p><em>There is no such thing as a bad child, change the environment and you're likely to change the behavior. <br></em>– Father Flanagan<br></p> | 2021-11-16T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="Youth Success" src="/locations/north-florida/PublishingImages/Youth-Success.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Pedaling for Boys Town New England! | https://www.boystown.org/locations/new-england/news-and-events/Pages/Pedaling-for-Boys-Town-New-England.aspx | Pedaling for Boys Town New England! | <p>
Boys Town New England Board Member, Art Bert and 5 other community members of Plum Beach embarked on a 400 mile bike ride starting in Lubec, Maine on September 7. They call themselves The Plum Beach Pedalers and this year they rode in support of Boys Town New England and The Parkinson’s Foundation. They encountered some weather on their journey but they stayed in good spirits and enjoyed the beautiful sights of the New England coast. They completed their trek on September 16 in Salisbury, MA. <br></p><p>
We are so grateful for Art, the Palm Beach Pedalers and for all those who supported their ride!<br></p><p><img src="/locations/new-england/news-and-events/PublishingImages/Pages/Pedaling-for-Boys-Town-New-England/Pedal-for-BT-New-England.jpg" alt="Pedal-for-BT-New-England.jpg" style="margin:5px;" /><br></p> | 2021-11-12T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="Pedaling for Boys Town" src="/locations/new-england/PublishingImages/NENGL-Bike-shirt.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />
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| Boys Town New England Helps Previously Separated Siblings Find Their Forever Family | https://www.boystown.org/locations/new-england/news-and-events/Pages/Boys-Town-New-England-Helps-Previously-Separated-Siblings-Find-Their-Forever-Family.aspx | Boys Town New England Helps Previously Separated Siblings Find Their Forever Family | <p></p><p>The ability to keep siblings together, whenever possible, is always a goal when it comes to youth being placed in foster care. For Libby and Scott, Boys Town New England found a way.</p><p>Libby is an autistic, non-verbal youth who was admitted into the Boys Town Family Home program approximately four years ago. She came into our care due to reported abuse and neglect by her birth family.</p><p>Libby's brother, Scott, lived in a foster home, but was preparing to be moved after that family announced they would be moving out of state.</p><p>Seeing an opportunity to reunite Libby and Scott, Boys Town New England immediately advocated for Scott to move into the same house with Libby on our campus in Portsmouth, RI. That way the siblings could be in each other's lives while waiting to learn what was next for them.</p><p>Scott's move was approved, and he and Libby were reunited. Boys Town staff cared for the two and saw how much they enjoyed being together. They both thrived under the new arrangement. However, they had no interaction with their parents. Boys Town New England became their new family.</p><p>Approximately six months ago, Adoption Rhode Island called with great news – they had found family members from the maternal side who had never met Libby or Scott. After hearing the brother and sister were in need of a forever family, they immediately expressed interest in wanting to be just that for them.</p><p>The family members went through extensive training and observed the care Libby required in order to communicate and thrive. They fulfilled all the necessary requirements in order to officially become the forever family that could care and love for Libby and Scott. It was just what the children needed.</p><p>Just over a month ago, after over four years of Boys Town care, Libby and Scott were able to move into their new home – together! They finally found their forever family.<span style="background-color:transparent;"></span></p> | 2021-11-12T06:00:00Z | News | | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| BOARD SPOTLIGHT: ALEX BOURNIQUE | https://www.boystown.org/locations/south-florida/news-and-events/Pages/BOARD-SPOTLIGHT-ALEX-BOURNIQUE.aspx | BOARD SPOTLIGHT: ALEX BOURNIQUE | <p></p><p><em>Why did you become involved with Boys Town South Florida?</em></p><p><em>“I am originally from South Florida, and over the last several years, I was away for my job. Once I moved back in the summer of 2021, I knew I wanted to give some of my time to the community and be a good neighbor. The Boys Town mission was a perfect fit where I feel I can make a difference and I couldn't be more excited."</em></p><p>Alex is originally from Vero Beach, Florida. Mr. Bournique currently works for Siemens Energy (OTCMKTS: SMEGF), serving as the Southeast Region Vice President of Sales. His office is based out of Jupiter, Florida, and his region runs from North Carolina though Florida. Throughout his career, Alex has held multiple roles.<br><em> </em><br><em>Alex recently relocated to Stuart, Florida with his family and is excited to set roots in South Florida. Alex is a green belt six sigma practitioner.</em></p><p></p> | 2021-11-12T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="" src="/locations/south-florida/about-boys-town-south-florida/PublishingImages/Alexander.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Being the Conduent of Good | https://www.boystown.org/locations/south-florida/news-and-events/Pages/Being-the-Conduent-of-Good.aspx | Being the Conduent of Good | <p></p><p>Damaris Smith contacted Nick Janes, her Care Coordination Services Consultant, to share her efforts to secure back-to-school supplies to help Boys Town South Florida families. Damaris had spread the word to her co-workers at Conduent sharing all the great services offered to children and families in the community. Together, Damaris and her co-workers worked around the clock for two months scheduling all types of activities to help raise money and donate to the cause. Damaris and her amazing co-workers did not only make a generous donation of school supplies, but Conduent also presented our Executive Director, Bethany Lacey, with a check in the amount of $2,000. We are truly grateful for all the support.</p><p>“My experience has been so positive that I feel selfish by not sharing with everybody." ~ Damaris Smith<br></p><p></p> | 2021-11-12T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="" src="/locations/south-florida/about-boys-town-south-florida/PublishingImages/Conduent-employees-presenting-check-to-BTSFL.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CLINIC: A life changing service | https://www.boystown.org/locations/south-florida/news-and-events/Pages/BEHAVIORAL-HEALTH-CLINIC-A-life-changing-service.aspx | BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CLINIC: A life changing service | <p></p><p>When Lucas was just five, his Kindergarten teacher approached me after three months of school and suggested my son might benefit from a behavior assessment due to his high energy level and lack of focus in the classroom. After a couple of evaluations with a pediatrician and a child psychologist, there it was, the acronyms that I had often read about -- ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). The pediatrician made a few recommendations, but as parents we were lost not knowing where to begin to be able to help our son. We noticed Lucas had some difficulty keeping friends because he often said things that were hurtful, or he was too loud and intense. I felt frustrated. Soon I learned that the ADHD journey is a trial-and-error process because each child responds differently to treatments. For 3 years my husband and I read books about ADHD, talked with other parents facing similar journeys, researched published papers about ADHD treatments and tried a few of them without much success. Meanwhile, Lucas started taking medication, which has helped him focus and to be less active during the school hours. However, the medicine is not the solution, it is only one element of the treatment. Like for anything related to a child, the real work starts at home with the parents/care givers, who cannot do it alone. The biggest life-changing option that has helped our family unit considerably is the Boys Town Behavior Health Clinic. Dr. Ryan Eagan, our child psychologist, has been an amazing resource to learn about parenting skills and how to implement them in an effective way to support our son's development and behavior health, and above all to help our family create healthy routines. While the ADHD diagnosis is related to our youngest son, his behavior affects our whole family dynamics, and we all need to be aware of our actions to keep helping Lucas. I am grateful for Dr. Eagan's assistance in figuring out behavior problems and for his guidance to help us avoid and/or cope with them in the future.</p><p><em>(This story was written by a mom whose son's name has been changed for privacy reasons.)</em></p><p></p> | 2021-11-12T06:00:00Z | News | | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Boys Town South Florida Celebrates Growth in Broward County | https://www.boystown.org/locations/south-florida/news-and-events/Pages/Boys-Town-South-Florida-Celebrates-Growth-in-Broward-County.aspx | Boys Town South Florida Celebrates Growth in Broward County | <p>Boys Town South Florida held a Ribbon Cutting event for the expansion of its Broward County Office, which serves more than 300 children and families every year. The Broward County office of Boys Town South Florida provides preventive programs funded by the Broward County of Florida, Children's Services Council of Broward County, and The Jim Moran Foundation.<br></p><p>“Boys Town South Florida is committed to serving more children and families in Broward County, and this is only possible due to the support from our funders, donors, partners and volunteers. I am grateful for everyone who have joined our efforts to expand our quality services to every child who needs our help regardless of their circumstances", said Executive Director Bethany Lacey.</p><p>Broward County Commissioners Rhonda Eaton - Dist. 2 and Lamar Fisher - Dist. 4, Pompano Beach Mayor Rex Hardin along with Boys Town South Florida Board Chair Jaime Holland helped Executive Director Bethany Lacey cut the ribbon to set the beginning of an exciting time for the Boys Town staff who help empower moms and dads to parent their children in a positive way, especially when facing serious behavior challenges. Boys Town family consultants are highly trained to provide parenting classes in person at their office or virtually, as well as to teach parenting skills right in the families' homes, providing emotional support 24/7 and linking parents and children to community resources. In addition, Boys Town staff help children suffering from mental health issues by connecting them with programs and resources that can provide the best care. The impact these services provide are very positive on the whole family, as parents and their children are guided to create a positive family environment together.</p><p>Thank you to the Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce for the partnership and to our local guests and funders for supporting the mission of Boys Town. For more information about the programs and services offered by Boys Town South Florida in Broward County call 754-222-8451.<span style="background-color:transparent;"></span></p> | 2021-11-12T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="Broward" src="/locations/south-florida/news-and-events/Broward%20County/broward-2.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Boys Town North Florida Hosts Spirit Week for Employees | https://www.boystown.org/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/Pages/Boys-Town-North-Florida-Hosts-Spirit-Week-for-Employees.aspx | Boys Town North Florida Hosts Spirit Week for Employees | <p><span style="background-color:transparent;">Boys Town North Florida prides itself on the positive peer-to-peer culture that has cultivated over many years. Staff members often comment on how they feel they are part of a team and are supported.</span></p><p>Since the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, it has been difficult for Boys Town North Florida to allow experiences for employees to collaborate and mingle like they did before the pandemic. Over the last year, there were changes in staff and many newcomers that couldn't experience many classic events like the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, quarterly birthday potlucks, and all-staff holiday breakfast.<br></p><p>The Employee Recognition Committee decided, due to a better COVID climate, to bring the culture back to North Florida and host a Staff Appreciation Spirit Week! Each activity was cautiously planned to allow for in-person, virtual, or asynchronous participation. The events allowed staff members the opportunity to meet and see one another and enjoy treats and activities to thank everyone for their hard work, especially their efforts through the pandemic.</p><p>Spirit Week kicked off with all staff wearing Boys Town merchandise and enjoying morning treats, such as coffee, tea, and snack bars. Treats were brought to the administrative office and delivered to campus for all staff to enjoy.</p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;"><img src="/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/PublishingImages/Spirit-Week-2.jpg" alt="Spirit Week" class="ms-rtePosition-1" style="margin:5px 10px;width:300px;height:333px;" />On Tuesday, the Employee Recognition Committee planned a Jersey Mike's subs lunch for all staff and a letter from Executive Director Marcus Lampkin, thanking everyone for being a great employee. Individuals had the option to eat together or grab their lunch to-go to eat where they were comfortable.</span></p><p>Wednesday was college and university representation day. Staff were encouraged to wear their favorite gear for the school of their choice and decorate their office. In the afternoon, there was an ice cream social event where each employee received succulents as a reminder of their resiliency.</p><p>Self-care was the theme for Thursday with a guided meditation from former staff member, Tavarus Sherrod. Tavarus taught employees about the importance of breathwork and having a pleasant mental scene to retreat to as a sanctuary of relaxation.</p><p>To wrap up Spirit Week, employees went to the movie theatre to see <em>Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings</em>, which received the most votes from staff to see.</p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;">Overall, everyone enjoyed Spirit Week and appreciated the chance to get to know everyone and feel celebrated. The Employee Recognition Committee considered the week a huge success and can't wait for the holiday season to hopefully arrange more activities to celebrate the culture at the North Florida site.</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="background-color:transparent;"><img src="/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/PublishingImages/Spirit-Week-3.jpg" alt="Spirit Week" class="ms-rtePosition-4" style="margin:5px;width:700px;height:434px;" /><br></span></p> | 2021-11-08T06:00:00Z | News | <img alt="Spirit Week" src="/locations/north-florida/news-and-events/PublishingImages/Spirit-Week-1.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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