Agape for Youth, Inc. Newsletter Agape Strong January/February 2016 2015………REFLECTING UPON AGAPE’S YEAR OF CELEBRATION!!! As I’ve written throughout the Agape youth and families reunification families from the Agape’s Strengths year, this has been, and continues participated at events including the BJKids91 Foundation, along with to be an amazing journey for Vectren Dayton Airshow, receiving over $400,000 in The combined top Agape! Columbus Zoo, Idle Hour Ranch, donated household items and five Strengths of the Dayton Dragons game, Young’s merchandise through our During 2015, we served over 160 staff at Agape are: Dairy, Laser Tag, and bowling made partnership with Good 360 was youth through our Foster Care possible through Agape’s Youth provided those we serve, and Developer program, had 19 of our youth and Family Fund built through the made available to other non- Empathy adopted by one of our many “Agape Strong” fundraiser bringing profits in our community. dedicated foster families, and had in a record breaking over $50,000, Responsibility more than 100 families (which and additional community Grants from the Reynolds and Belief included over 240 youth) be served donations. Reynolds Foundation, Vectren Positivity through our Reunification Services Foundation, PNC Foundation, program. Our belief that “the The youth we serve were provided and Hossie Martin Foundation, more we serve, the more with education incentives for their along with a significant ‘employee’ opportunities we will be given to success, tutoring services again outreach donation from serve” played out ten-fold. made possible through our CareSource (where they provided community support. We again needed items to fill comfort bags Realizing I cannot begin to celebrated the seniors in our care for the youth we serve), all individually thank everyone receiving their diploma, and were provided additional and needed involved because there will never able to financially support youth opportunities. Special Interest be enough space to include all of who choose to further their Articles: you, in behalf of our Board of education through our Advanced The blessings continue…...as a Directors, my Agape Co-workers, Education Fund that was also result of continued growth, in and the families and youth we supported through our Youth and January of this year Agape will • 2016 Foster Care Individual Highlights: serve here at the Agency I would Family Fund. open another office in the Conference for like to highlight what your support Cincinnati area. We are extremely Families and Youth Foster Care Updates has made possible during this past During the holiday season we have excited about the outreach year. 2 been so blessed to provide events opportunities this will provide. • Featured Foster such as Santa’s Secret Workshop, Parents – Eric & Looking for a Forever Lucinda Flinn Early in 2015 we began the quest where over 125 children shopped Agape’s success in serving the to find a new home for Agape. youth and families entrusted to Family 3 for more than 600 gifts provided AYC Calendar of After touring a number of through donations and financial our care would not have been Celebrating Education Meetings properties, the decision was made contributions from the community; possible without the generosity of to relocate4 the agency to 2300 S. matching more than 140 youth all of you who have supported Meet the Board of Edwin C. Moses Blvd, Suite 140 Agape’s mission of serving Directors – David Upcoming Training through our Giving Trees Program here in Dayton. The outpour of where we partnered with donors in though your donations, grants, Donaldson donatOpportunitiesions of desks, chairs,5 file the community; families being sponsorships, and prayers! cabinets, conference table, white Recruitment Meet our Board of provided the opportunity to attend board, televisions, and other the Nutcracker, and PNC Festival We will be always Agape Strong- Corner furnishingsDirectors was beyond 7 measure. of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. “serving families, youth, and each ‘Gifted’ artwork from a local other with excellence”, and even airbrush artist enhanced our new The Annual Agape Christmas ‘Stronger’ as a result of you! Our Mission: ‘home’. Referral Agency celebration was hosted at the Miami “Providing youth representatives, Business leaders, Valley Golf Club complete with a and families with supportive, along with Local and State Winter Carnival for the over 300 nurturing services dignitaries came together to who were in attendance!! that encourage each celebrate our Open House and this other to reach their Having bi-annual food drive new beginning. full potential.” donations sponsored by a local doctor and his staff, and what has become an annual outreach to Agape Strong Page 2 of 7 Agape for Youth, Inc. Opens office in Cincinnati DAYTON, OHIO – January 26, 2016 Agape for Youth, Inc. to open office in Cincinnati, Ohio Agape for Youth, Inc. a Foster Care, Adoption through Foster Care and Reunification Services agency headquartered in Dayton, is announcing the opening of a new office in Cincinnati, located at 10979 Reed Hartman Highway, Suite 337. Agape’s expansion into the Cincinnati area is the result of several foster families living in the area, making the decision to work alongside of Agape to provide services to children in the community. With the addition of these new homes, Agape is now serving youth living with foster families in Montgomery, Miami, Clark, Greene, Butler, Hamilton, Brown and Clermont Counties. “We have been working with youth and families in Cincinnati and the surrounding counties for many years,” said Stephen Geib, Executive Director/Founder of Agape for Youth, Inc. “The opening of a physical location in the city represents a terrific opportunity for us to expand the Agape mission and to offer our services to the families and youth in the area who are entrusted to our care.” Agape for Youth has hired two full time staff members with significant history of working with the families in the community to be onsite at the Cincinnati office. “We believe this will help with continuity as we welcome the families to the Agape culture of serving,” Geib said. “We have an ongoing goal to work as a team with every child’s biological family, the foster and adoptive parents, the youth and each county service agency to build greater opportunities for growth and development,” said Randy Pavlak, President of the Board for Agape for Youth, Inc. “We are excited about this expansion into the Cincinnati area and look forward to continuing to grow the agency.” ### If you would like more information about Agape for Youth, Inc. please visit their website www.agapeforyouth.com, call Sandra Geib at 937.439.4406 or email [email protected]. Dear Agape Families HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Can you believe that it is really 2016, amazing! Well, I hope you are all recovering from what was most likely a very busy Holiday season and that you were you blessed by the season of giving. I truly enjoyed watching all of your kids run around and have a great time at the Agape Christmas Party. It “This is an extremely was great to get to talk too many of you and hear of the good work you are doing. exciting time at Agape Now that Christmas is passed please do not forget to mark your calendar for our Foster Care Conference for Youth as we have which will be Monday February 15th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Beavercreek. Registration begins at 8:15 and adjusted to our new it will be an amazing day. building, welcomed new This is an extremely exciting time at Agape for Youth as we have adjusted to our new building, welcomed families, and now, now new families, and now, now we are expanding to Cincinnati. I am sure Steve will share more but, we have we are expanding to been blessed with a wonderful opportunity to open an office in the Cincinnati area. We have two new staff; th Cincinnati.” Molly and Tiffany who are handling our Cincinnati expansion and our office will open on January 25 . We have 10 families in that area and we would ask all of you to give them a big welcome when you meet them at our conferences, picnic, or other agency wide events. I shared with the staff last week that I am very proud of the success you all are experiencing. We had 40 children leave our agency the first 6 months of our fiscal year and maintained a 75% success rate with 16 youth reunifying with family, 10 youth being adopted and 4 youth emancipating from their foster homes. That truly is very good work. You should also know that we received great praise from Montgomery County “It is evident to me that this week as they asked us if they could use our monthly reports as model reports for other agencies. They explained that our Youth Specialists write excellent reports and provide the best information. This is quite an all of you, together with honor and represents the commitment that our staff has to provide the best case management services to you your workers truly are and to the foster youth. It is evident to me that all of you, together with your workers truly are providing providing quality care to quality care to the kids that we place. the kids that we place.“ Thank you so much for all that you do. I appreciate you all so much and as always; please remember that I am available at any time if you have comments or concerns or if you just want to encourage me by giving me a great report about your worker. You may reach me at 439-4406 ext.