Spring 2016

Fostering a Legacy of Hope ... 1

Am I Spending Enough Time With My Child? ... 2

Kick Starting a Child’s Potential... 3

What Does Family Mean to You?... 3

Fostering a Legacy of Hope

“Everybody makes mistakes,” says Ellen*, a Foster Parent with Closer to Home. “We’re all only one tragedy or crisis away from doing the same thing.”

Ellen and her husband, Steven*, have opened their home to more than 50 foster children over the last 15 years. Children have come to them from all different kinds of backgrounds and situations.

Ellen remembers taking in a 3-month-old girl named Lily*. Despite her young age, Lily had a difficult time trusting people and would arch her back away every time someone tried to hold her. Lily’s mom loved her daughter, but due to her own trauma, she couldn’t bring herself to hug her or feed her properly.

“Mom worked very hard to get her back,” says Ellen. “She wanted her back des-perately, but it was hard for her.” She had to address her personal trauma before she could effectively meet her daughter’s needs.

Ellen and Steven worked hard to get Lily to trust, love and cuddle. Eventually, she was returned to her mom. And the look on mom’s face when Lily cuddled into her for the first time?

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[Story continues on page 2...]

In This Issue:

Closer to Home Community Services

3507A 17 Avenue SWCalgary, AB T3E 0B6

(403) 543-0550www.closertohome.com

reception@closertohome.com

Empowering Families to Stay Together

A Longtime Foster Parent Reflects

Am I spending enough time with my child?

“Unbelievable,” Ellen remem-bers, smiling. “It’s the great-est feeling in the world to help a baby go back to her mom.”

While children are in her care, she constantly has her camera out, snapping photos. When par-ents are ready to reunite with their children, Ellen gives them a memory book filled with pho-tos of birthdays and special mo-ments. “It gives parents back a piece of what they lost when they messed up,” she says. “And hope-

fully it helps them realize, ‘I don’t want to have this happen again.’”

“You understand there’s a part of them that just hates that they’ve gotten themselves into this,” she says. “They love their kids, they just don’t know how to be a parent. And they have to work hard at that.”

Being a Foster Parent isn’t easy, especially when it comes time to say goodbye. Still, El-len continues opening her door to more children who need a temporary place to call home.

“Every time I think I’m not going to continue,” she says, “someone comes into my life and I realize I need to be there for them. Even if I never see them again when they leave, I know I played a little part in their life to get them home.”

Ellen says the support she re-ceives from Closer to Home – where staff are on call 24/7 – is a big help. She recalls one in-cident early on in her time as a Foster Parent, when she need-ed guidance in a scary situation.

“If Closer to Home hadn’t been able

to give us that advice on a Sunday afternoon,” she says, “who knows what would have happened.”

“We’re so grateful to them for everything they’ve done for us. The support is unreal.”

If you’re interested in becoming a Foster Parent, please call Jody at (403) 543-0550 Ext. 243. She would love to answer your questions and get you started in the process.

*Names changed to protect privacy

2 Closer to Home | Spring 2016

[Continued from page 1...]

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world to help a baby go back to her mom.”

I know it’s good for kids if parents spend a lot of time with them and participate in their activities. I try to, but find I’m not able to complete all my household tasks too. How do I create a balance? - Jack

It’s hard to juggle it all, but once you’ve built a strong foundation with your child by responding to her needs and helping her feel safe and se-cure, she’ll begin to feel safe enough to explore the world independently.

If she starts showing negative, atten-tion-seeking behaviours, she may be telling you she needs more sup-port. Many parents see negative be-haviours reduce significantly when they start dedicating half-an-hour per day of undivided nurturing time with their child. This actually frees up more time where children are able to manage themselves successfully.

It’s important for children to learn how to manage unstructured, inde-pendent play. Practicing their prob-lem-solving and emotional skills on their own helps them be successful in the world. Try meeting both of your needs by creating a predictable rou-tine where you set aside a block of time for independent or peer play for your child, and use that time to com-plete some priority household tasks.

It’s important for you to feel bal-anced and calm, as it’s difficult to care for others when your own needs are not met first. By being proactive and creating structure around both nur-turing time and independent time with your child, you should start to feel some balance to your day.

- Amber, CTH Program Coordinator

Do you have parenting questions for our staff? Send them to us at

jmelnychuk@closertohome.com and you may be featured in our next

newsletter!

BIRDIES FOR KIDS AD

Kick Starting a Child’s Potential“I’ve got just one year left, and then I’m going to be a mechanical en-gineer,” Omar* says with pride.

Fourteen years ago, Omar and his family left everything behind in Turkey and landed in Calgary.

For six-year-old Omar, that meant leaving behind his friends, aunties, uncles and cousins. It meant his new home was different – bigger, but with fewer visitors coming and going.

His new school was different too – a maze of hallways and classrooms filled with unfamiliar faces. The scen-ery, the weather, and the language were different. In a 14-hour flight, his life had turned upside-down. But Omar and his family were re-silient. They were excited to be in

Canada, and for all the opportuni-ty and adventure that lay ahead.

During his first summer, Omar’s par-ents registered him in CTH’s Summer in the City program, a free, educa-tional day camp for children from low income families. That summer, Omar developed vital skills, such as literacy and communication, and explored his new community.

Between field trips to the library and the swimming pool, Omar learned how to care for his physical and emo-tional health. Quickly, his confidence soared. Suddenly, Omar didn’t feel so alone. He stood out as a leader.

Even when Omar outgrew Camp, he returned to volun-teer and mentor other children.

Today, he has nearly completed his mechanical engineering degree, proving that with a little kick start, children can reach their potential.

You can help children like Omar access vital programs like Summer in the City. Please consider making a dona-tion by completing the form on page 4.

*Name changed to protect privacy

3Closer to Home | Spring 2016

Closer to Home would like to recognize our supporters for the last quarter (January 1, 2016 - March 31, 2016)

Thank You!

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Align Association of Community Services * Andrew McQuiston * Ashley O’Reilly * Barb Henning * Beverly and Larry Flug * Bones, Barks N’ Baths * Brown Bagging for Calgary Kids * Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank * Calgary South Rotary Partners Common Ground * Emmanuel Christian Reformed Church * Eric Lumsden Erin O’Reilly * Geoffrey and Marilyn McMillan * Glamorgan Bakery * Glamorgan Church of God * Henry Dunfield * James Evans * Janice & Dave Besson * Jennifer Head Justin Senft * Karen Olivier * Kate Andrews * Kids Up Front Foundation * Koral Evans * Laura Sletmoen * Layl Alnawwab * McQuiston Executive Wealth Group at RBC Dominion Securities Inc. * MEG Energy Corp. * Meghan Hilderman-Macdonnell Melcor YMCA at Crowfoot * Minoush Rafie * Prakash Thapaliya * Pricewa-terhouseCoopers Canada Foundation * RBC Foundation * Rotary Club of Calgary Centennial * Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology * Shaganappi Health Clinic * Shaw Communications Inc. * Sponsor Energy * Sureway International Inc. * The Calgary Foundation * United Way of Calgary, Donor Choice Program * Vogel LLP

Closer to Home | Spring 2016

FAMILY TEACHER

This full-time live-in position in your own home is ideal for an individual or couple looking to have a positive and lasting impact on children and their families.

Living and working in your family home environment with one youth, the Family Teachers’ primary objective is to encourage youth to develop to their maximum potential and enable them to successfully integrate back into their families and communities.

For a detailed job description and for more career and volunteer opportunities, please visit our website at www.closertohome.com.

Method of Payment: My cheque made payable to “Closer to Home Community

Services” is enclosed.

I would prefer to use my credit card.

Cardholder Name

Card #

Exp /

Cardholder Signature

I would like to remain anonymous, please do not recognize my name in the Donor Recognition section of CTH publications such as this quarterly newsletter.

I W I L L H E LP EMP O W ER F AM I L IE S T O S T A Y T O G E T H ER !

I would like to make a MONTHLY GIFT of: $100/mth $20/mth $10/mth Other $ /mth

OR, here is my SINGLE GIFT of:

$500 $200 $75 Other $

Name

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Please return your completed form to: 3507A 17 Ave SW Calgary, Alberta T3E 0B6 Or fax your completed form to (403) 246-6406

Questions? Contact us at (403) 543-0550 Ext. 250www.closertohome.com | Charitable Registration Number 89823 5759 RR0001N012016

For credit card donations, we will call you to verify information and process your dona-tion through CanadaHelps (www.canadahelps.org). Ph: _____________________

YES,

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