Sherry Bouquet

Merry Christmas

Room for one more.Room for one more. That is the lesson I learn from our foster and kinship families every day of the year. Room for The One, Jesus, is the heart of the message of Christmas.
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Foster Care Myth #5

Are you one of the five? What is keeping you from fostering? Chances are it is one of the top five myths regarding foster care. Let’s take a look at each myth and set the record straight. It just might be what you need to know!
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Foster Care Myth #4

Are you one of the five? What is keeping you from fostering? Chances are it is one of the top five myths regarding foster care. Let’s take a look at each myth and set the record straight. It just might be what you need to know!
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Foster Care Myth #3

Are you one of the five? What is keeping you from fostering? Chances are it is one of the top five myths regarding foster care. Let’s take a look at each myth and set the record straight. It just might be what you need to know!
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Foster Care Myth #2

Are you one of the five? What is keeping you from fostering? Chances are it is one of the top five myths regarding foster care. Let’s take a look at each myth and set the record straight. It just might be what you need to know
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Foster Care Myth #1

Are you one of the five? What is keeping you from fostering? Chances are it is one of the top five myths regarding foster care. Let’s take a look at each myth and set the record straight. It just might be what you need to know!
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TBRI Trauma-Informed Classroom Live Simulcast

TBRI® & Trauma-Informed Classrooms is a 1-day seminar designed to equip educators, parents and others to help children from ‘hard places’ of abuse, neglect, and/or trauma. Join us before the start of the school year to learn how t
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Do you celebrate our nation's freedom from or freedom for?

There are many things we can be thankful we are free from this Independence Day. Reflecting on history we realize our independence in 1776 gave us freedom from: tyranny, religious persecution, government without representation. We celebrate our every
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Do you know why this pup was in class?

In the beginning of June we had 20 people from a wide spectrum of roles attending our TBRI Caregiver Training. Foster, adoptive parents, social workers, counselors, residential care, school teachers and principals filled the room as we learned. Diese
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Welcome Summer!

What do you look forward to this summer? It is a time to enjoy friends, family, new places, recreation, camping and vacations. One thing you can do to get the most out of your summer is to support a foster child in their summer activities.
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Compassion has a face

If you take the time to look you to may recognize that compassion has a face. That was certainly the case for a church seeking to arouse the compassion of their congregation for the needs of children in foster care.
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Are you home for Easter?

A beautiful story of adoption unfolded today. A woman who has struggled through life heard the truth of Easter. Her heart was longing for a place to call home, to find rest and peace and forgiveness for the burdens of her life.She heard of a heavenly
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Without this there would be no foster children…

Adoption or foster care does not exist if there is not loss, if there is not trauma,” shares Mark Ottinger in the Empowered to Connect promotional video.Many children in our community experience neglect and abuse. They are in our classro
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Celebrating our foster families.

The partnership of donors make great things possible...like a family bowling party! Thanks to the generous support of our donors we are able to rent out the Luray Lanes Bowling Alley in Ashland for our families who foster.
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Three ways to shower foster children with love.

The little Valentine's are all written and sealed to be delivered to classmates. Do you remember the fun of opening each one and sharing in the festivities? You are Special. You are Loved, each little Valentine declares.For children who come from ha
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How can you change the life of a foster child forever?

New Year's resolutions are all about change...for the good. One resolution you can make is to get involved in changing the life of a foster child. Our community, our state and our country has been overwhelmed in 2017 with the surging number of chidlr
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You still have time to tell him...

I drove into town Sunday afternoon with a few foster kids on the way home from church. One smote my heart with his observation. As we drove he had noticed several Fostering Family Ministries signs prominently displayed in front of a few churches."It'
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Where have you see these?

Our new yard signs in two sizes are starting to pop up around the community. You will find them at churches who have foster families or volunteers and other locations that want to support our mission. A big thanks to students at Ashland University wh
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Give a home on Giving Tuesday...

As our hearts turn towards home during this holiday season I urge you to consider how you can help a child from hard places feel at home away from home.Right now there are nearly 130 children in our county alone who have been removed from their home.
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He couldn't afford to give

Recently, I was having a conversation with some of our amazing kiddos who happen to be in foster care through no fault of their own. They had to be uprooted and move to a foster home right before the holiday season. Like most children in care they ha
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Have you shared the blessing of adoption this month?

This month of November is National Adoption Awareness month In the United States there are over 400,000 children who are temporary orphans in the foster care system. Of that number, more than 100,000 are waiting to be adopted today. In Ashland County
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"Go Give a Kid a Hug!"

As I sat at the Recovering Hope Event a community member gave me cash folded over and said, "Go hug a kid!" When I picked up the mail for Fostering Family a check had arrived
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How many HUGs so far in October?

Support for HUGs to Help Us give has come from many different sources. Have you been included yet? So far this month we have received 17 1/2 HUGs! That is $1,750 given so far. We are thankful for the churches, First Presbyterian and Bethel in Savann
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What happens when empty nesters open their home to a toddler and a first grader?

Life goes into warp speed! Imagine rewinding your parenting skills from two decades ago and putting your schedule into overdrive. This is the time for a trained care team from a local church to put the love of God into action and give this family a
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Ever need a hug?

There is nothing cozier than a big hug. Research shows measureable benefits in lower blood pressure, easing stress and strenghening the immune system. You may be thinking you need a hug right now!For children from hard places the need for a hug can h
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Ask and you shall receive....

It all began as a vision, to celebrate our foster and adoptive families in our area. This past Sunday it became a reality.
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Land of the Free and Home of the Brave

While you were celebrating Independence Day this past week in the land of the free and the home of the brave, there were dozens of acts of bravery taking place throughout our county. With close to 90 children foster children in Ashland County, these
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It takes a family, a church family, to raise a child.

Contrary to a popular quote, "It takes a village to raise a child", our current state of affairs in America proves to us that the village has not faired well in raising children. The state and county governments are in desparate need of help to stem
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Attend Volunteer training

Can't foster, then be a supportive friend!
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I can't foster, but I can...

You may not be able to open your home to a foster child but you can be a neighbor to a foster family.
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What's your super power?

Doing what you love will help children from hard places in our community. These women from Trinity Lutheran use their talents to make beautiful cards. The proceeds from the sales are donated to local ministries.
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I can't foster, but I can...

I can't foster but I can . . . How would you finish that sentence? Can you cook a meal once a month? Help out with laundry, or rake a yard? Perhaps you would rather give two times a month to spend a few hours with your "foster grandchildren" or "foster nieces and nephews?"
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It's the first time this happened in 15 years!

This is a message I was blessed to receive along with the above picture. “I have extra kids for the weekend, helping out another family myself. Cathy is fixing dinner for five tonight. A huge blessing for me and for four foster kids.
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Many hands make light work

What a beautiful sight to behold when the body of Christ serves children from hard places together. At the beginning of February we had the privilege to wrap a care team from Trinity Lutheran Church around an Ashland Foster Family after a placement
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The gift of interruptions this Christmas

As we walk through the messages of the Advent season featuring the all familiar cast I have been struck by a common theme, a quality, a manner of living that is evident in the life of each one in the Christmas story. The unifying thread: a life inter
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Please share our thanks for giving

As you gather with family and friends, know that Fostering Family Ministries is thankful for your prayers and support of children from hard places in Ashland. We have just begun to partner with local churches to call out foster families and supportiv
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Helping new foster families

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting three new foster families in Ashland County. Their excitement was palpable as was their nervousness. The call to serve foster children is clear to the families, yet the task can seem daunting. Imagine the
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Be the Neighbor

Put the messge of the Good Samaritan in practice and solve the foster care crisis in your county through the ministry of your local church.
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