July 12, 2025 • 30 mins
Ever wondered what happens to children when their families can no longer care for them? In this eye-opening conversation with Ron Bertsch, Director of Foster Care, Adoption, and Independent Living Programs at DCCH Center, we uncover the hidden foster care crisis affecting hundreds of children in Kentucky every month.
Ron reveals the stunning statistic that approximately 450 children are referred for foster placement monthly, yet only a fraction find homes due to the critical shortage of foster families. This gap is especially severe for older children, sibling groups, and children from minority backgrounds, who often wait the longest for permanent placement.
With 39 years of professional experience in child welfare—and as an adoptive father to four children himself—Ron brings both expertise and heartfelt passion to his work. He walks listeners through the process of becoming a foster parent, dispelling common misconceptions about requirements and financial concerns. Contrary to what many believe, foster families receive comprehensive support including monthly stipends and full medical coverage for the children in their care.
The conversation takes us through DCCH's remarkable evolution from its origins as an orphanage 176 years ago to today's multifaceted organization offering residential treatment, outpatient counseling, targeted case management, and independent living programs for young adults aging out of foster care. Ron shares moving success stories, from viral adoption testimonials to powerful family reunifications where parents overcame addiction to rebuild relationships with their children.
What makes this episode particularly powerful is Ron's emphasis that the most important qualification for becoming a foster parent isn't financial resources or a perfect home—it's simply having love in your heart and a commitment to helping a child in need. Whether you're considering fostering, adoption, or just want to support vulnerable children in your community, this conversation provides valuable insights and inspiration.
Ready to learn how you could transform a child's life? Visit dcchcenter.org to discover upcoming information sessions and explore ways to get involved with DCCH's life-changing mission.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Murphy.
Thank you, Charlie.
Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast.
We like to interview localbusiness owners, influencers,
various different movers andshakers in the community, and
sometimes we talk to people whojust need to get a message out
(00:31):
to the community at large.
With us today, I'm with.
Ron.
Is your last name pronouncedBirch?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hey, that's a good guess.
Ron and I are meeting for thefirst time now.
He's director of foster careand what else there at DCCH.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
The adoption and our independent living programs.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Okay, because I know your title.
It's a big title, it's amouthful.
I stopped writing it down abouthalfway after you started
telling me and I thought I'mjust going to let him explain
what he does, after you startedtelling me and I thought I'm
just going to let him explainwhat he does.
So, having said that, with metoday is Ron Burch, director of
(01:15):
all that with DCCH, and he's gota few messages he wants to get
out to the community today.
So I'm going to help him dothat.
So, ron, thanks for joining metoday and welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Sure.
Well, thank you for having me.
I'm so excited about this.
You know that's my message tothe community is just letting
people know what we do here atthe Diocesan Catholic Children's
Home.
That's what DCCH stands for, bythe way, some people don't even
maybe not put that together,but it started as an orphanage
back 176 years ago.
(01:43):
As an orphanage back 176 yearsago, murph.
This has been our history as StJohn Orphanage out of Covington
and St Joe Orphanage out ofCold Spring, kentucky.
They merged in 1961 and changedthe name to the Diocesan
Catholic Children's Home with alittle bit of focus of working
with kids instead of trueorphans but legal orphans, kids
(02:04):
that were abused and neglectedin our community, that needed a
little bit more help in atreatment environment.
So that's still our flagshipprogram and operation here, you
know.
But in 1999, I was hired.
You know I had worked for thestate of Kentucky doing foster
care and adoption work and thencame here to DCCH in 99 to start
(02:25):
the programs with.
The first goal is to help thekids that were living here find
a good forever family throughadoption or, if somebody needed,
a temporary home and fostercare until they could move to a
back to their birth family or anadoptive home.
That was my mission.
But we've expanded and grownover the years and work with
kids all over the state thatneed these services, not just
(02:47):
the 32 kids that might live herein our residential program.
And then over the years we'veexpanded to other programs and
services and that's why theywanted to go by our initials
DCCH Center, because it was morethan just the children's home,
dcch Center because it was morethan just the children's home.
So we have an outpatientcounseling center here just to
(03:09):
work with anybody in thecommunity that might need
counseling services forindividual, family or marital
counseling, and they accept alltypes of medication or insurance
plus Medicaid insurance.
So that's something that welike to let people know that is
happening here on our FortMitchell campus.
And then we started morerecently a targeted case
(03:32):
management program and this wasto help prevent children from
coming into foster care.
So we see families that arestruggling and if we can have
services and supports to thosefolks or those parents to
prevent their kids from everentering foster care, we'd love
to be able to do that.
So those are the two things thatwere kind of new and then, like
I said, what I work with and incharge of is our foster care
(03:55):
and adoption program, and thesetwo are just our biggest need is
resources, because I can't workand help a child if I can't
recruit a good foster parent oran adoptive parent.
So I'm always getting thatmessage out to our community to
let them know that we are inneed.
There's just hundreds andhundreds of children across the
state that are referredliterally every day.
(04:16):
On average, murph, we haveabout 450 kids referred every
month for foster care placement.
So I can, you know, serve justa minuscule number of those
children that are referred to usbecause I can't recruit enough
families.
So that is our message and Ijust think people knew, you know
(04:36):
, that there were so manychildren that are available and
need a foster home and many ofthem also will need an adoptive
home.
So that's what I want to letpeople know to come and contact
us and talk to me and let usprepare them for this big
challenge of helping a kid.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Okay, well, there's a lot there, so let's kind of
take things piece by piece.
As you're speaking, there arequestions that I have.
One of them is you're talkingabout having kids being referred
, receiving referrals, for howdo those referrals come in?
Who refers the child?
How does that work?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Well, you know the state of Kentucky is in charge,
you know, with the judicialsystem, you know, to be able to
investigate any allegations ofabuse and neglect.
And if they find that and takethat to a judge and say, yes,
these kids are in danger, andit's pretty serious criteria.
They have to be in danger ofdeath or very serious harm.
(05:39):
So that's what a judge is goingto look at to be able to give
the state custody of that childand remove them from their birth
home or a relative or whereverthey may be living and in that
kind of dire circumstance.
So that's what the criteria isto get a kid in foster care.
And the children are here, sothey're placed in facilities all
(05:59):
over the state.
Some of them are emergencyreferrals that you know the
police are just been called andthere's a removal of a child and
then the state will send overtime.
They have high tech situationwhere they can email and
communicate to us through ourwebsite.
Every child that needs a homeand literally we're on average
(06:22):
getting 30, 40 of those a daythat we are reading and trying
to see if we can match them upwith one of our families that we
might have available.
And if we do, then we run withit and make that placement
happen.
Some of them can be very shortand sweet or some.
You know, if it's a child inour residential program, the
urgency is not there.
We can take our time and lookat this kid and their
(06:44):
circumstances and try to matchthem with a family, and I love
those kind of scenarios becausewe can take weeks and months
sometimes to have visitationwith that child and family to
make everybody comfortable andthen transition them into their
home them into their home.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
So when somebody, when a child is, when there's a
foster family that gets involved, what type of criteria does
somebody have to meet?
I know you're looking forvolunteers to be foster parents
at various different levels.
Some are temporary and thenmaybe there's permanent adoption
.
Is that correct?
What does somebody have to gothrough if they want to raise
their hand and say, hey, I'dlike to be a foster parent?
(07:27):
What's the next step after that?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
That's a great question and this can be some of
the misconceptions.
People are afraid of that.
But it's a little bit of aprocess.
It's not like they call and sayand then the next day we're
going to put a child in theirhome.
You know, they're going toreach out to me, we're going to
share information, give themsome education.
I invite them to a monthlyinformational meeting,
(07:49):
orientation that I have everymonth on a different day and
usually in the evening time foran hour, an hour and a half.
And if they feel comfortableafter that step, then we invite
them to our training program.
Feel comfortable after thatstep, then we invite them to our
training program.
You know it is the requirementthat we offer 30 hours of
face-to-face live training forany potential foster and
adoptive parent.
And it's during that 10-weekphase of reaching out, you know,
(08:12):
and providing that weeklytraining, that we give folks
their application paperwork, youknow.
So there is some involvementwith that.
You know we have to runbackground checks.
We're going to have themprovide a lot of proof of who
they are and proof of insurance,their license.
They have to get medicalverification.
We're going to get references.
(08:34):
You know we're going to gatherall that up and then write up a
home study narrative on thatfamily and and go through our
process to approve that personand try to see what would be a
good match for them.
How many kids could theyconsider?
One or more than a siblinggroup?
You know what's the best agerange would fit into their home
and they have say in this andtell us what they think is good.
(08:56):
And if we agree then that'swhat we're going to kind of
refer them to for the type ofchild.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Okay.
Well, what's the deficit, wouldyou say right now, you know,
number of kids looking forplacement versus the number of
families that are kind of goingthrough that training.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
There's a huge deficit and kids are waiting,
you know, and temporaryplacements in facilities like
our residential state.
They stay longer here becausewe don't have enough homes for
them.
So there is a great deficit andthe biggest need is for
families to consider olderchildren.
You know, 10 and older is atremendous need.
(09:37):
Most people seem to be morecomfortable saying, well, we'll
foster, adopt a baby or aninfant up to three years of age
or something like that.
Even though there's a need forthat, it's not as great of a
need as there are for older kids.
People that would considersibling groups, you know some
people can say, well, we canhelp one child, but we could
never take two or three or four.
But we want to keep siblingstogether, brothers and sisters
(09:59):
together, at all costs, if wecan do that.
And then children of minoritystatus they're a little bit
harder to place just becausethere's some folks might be
intimidated or afraid to do that.
So that is our need for olderkids, sibling groups and
minority children.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So if a family reaches out and they go through
the training and everythinghappens the way we all hope it
will, the child is placed intothe home.
Are there check-ins andcheck-ups periodically to make
sure that everything ishappening For sure, for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, yeah, we have our case management team that
will be assigned to every familyand every child and they're
going to be having weeklycontact and, you know, at least
once a month in the home havinga lengthier home visit and check
in.
And you know, sometimes we'lldo other types of check ins and
maybe they come in for a therapyappointment, because all our
(10:58):
kids that are what we consider atherapeutic need, for a therapy
appointment, because all ourkids that are what we consider a
therapeutic need, they're goingto have a counselor assigned to
them and families would usuallybring the children to us here
for counseling services andsometimes that could be weekly
or maybe bi-weekly.
You know we have a psychiatristand a psychologist on staff
that consult with us and help usguide the family and the child
(11:20):
and whatever their needs may be,and if it's a psychiatric need
then that doctor can prescribemedication for us if a kid has a
diagnosis that requires that.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Okay, how about on the financial side of things?
If somebody's afraid becausetheir heart says yes, but their
wallet says geez, I'm not sosure.
Is there financial assistancethat are kind of coming with
that child or children?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yeah, that's the good point here too, because I think
in the past that would havebeen a barrier, but I let people
know that that shouldn't evencrush your mind at this point,
if you are able to live withinyour means and take care of your
own needs.
The state of Kentucky and somefederal dollars are funneled
through us to be able to offer afamily a monthly stipend that
(12:07):
really should cover all thecosts of caring for the child.
In addition, the state providesMedicaid insurance so all their
health care needs are coveredthat way.
So a family's not purchasingtheir own or having to add them
to any private insurance plan.
That is all covered.
And the other thing that's good,murph, is if somebody you know
fosters a child and most of ouradoptions are like a foster to
(12:29):
adopt placement, and we lovethat for a child not to have to
transition again.
So if any of our foster familiesare open to the adoption, if a
child cannot go back home to abirth parent or a relative, then
we want our foster parents tohave first options to the
adoption of that child, andthat's predominantly what most
(12:50):
of our families end up doing,especially if a kid can't go
back home.
We've had success.
We just celebrated our 179thadoption that we facilitated
through our foster care program,so we're very proud and happy
for those families and kids tosee that happen.
But from a financial standpoint, the stipend is then there's
more federal dollars that aregiven to adopt a family.
(13:12):
That helps them all the waythrough the child's 18th year of
life, and they continue withthe Medicaid secondary insurance
if it's necessary, or it can betheir primary.
Some adoptive families mightalready have a family plan and
they can just add an adoptedchild into their private
insurance, but they would stillhave the Medicaid as a
(13:34):
supplement.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
So how long have you personally been the director of
the foster care and adoptionprogram?
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Well, you know, I just celebrated my 26th year
here at DCCH, and prior to thatI worked for 13 years, so 39
years of my life I've been doingthis work, and not only have I
done it professionally inhelping, but when I started in
this career, I saw the need andit just.
It was so overwhelming to meand so it just moved my heart so
(14:04):
much that when I met mywife-to-be, I said Julie, you
know, I feel like I'm called tofoster or adopt a child.
Are you with me on that?
And she agreed.
But she said just don't bringthem home and surprise me.
So, I said, no, it doesn't workthat way.
And, kind of like I describedto you earlier, we have a
process.
So she and I got to go throughthe training.
(14:26):
Even though I was leadingtraining, I got to switch roles
and be the recipient and gothrough a home study process and
we ended up adopting a siblinggroup of four children and we
had one child by birth.
So now, you know, now my kidsare all grown and some of them
are out of the home.
Some are still in the home withme, but they, you know, I've
(14:47):
lived it and done it and I thinkthat that helps me, you know,
relate to folks, because I canunderstand what I'm asking
people to do, because I've doneit myself.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
So on the personal front, then you've mentioned
your wife again.
What's her name?
Julie, julie, okay, so thenwe've shouted Julie out, and you
know you've mentioned the kidsthat you have various ages.
How old are the kids, if youcan remember?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Well, they're in range from 31 to 24 in age, so I
have five kids in a short,short time span.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So if they're going to listen to this and I hope
they all get a chance to whatare their names we want to shout
them out.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Oh, my oldest is Donovan, and then my second
child is Houston, third is Tyler, a daughter, carolyn, and then
my youngest is Sarah.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Okay, so when you're not at DCCH in your office, as
you are now, when you guys goout and have fun as a family,
what does that look like?
Do you have family vacationsthat you get to go on?
Oh, yeah.
So what type of fun do you guyshave as a family?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Well, we like to do all kinds of stuff and when they
were younger, you know, thingswere different.
We went to Disney a number oftimes and enjoyed that a couple
of times to the beach, of course, to let them experience all
those fun things.
Times to the beach, of course,to let them experience all those
fun things.
We just got back from Georgia.
We went down to Lake Oconee andcelebrated Fourth of July, so
(16:21):
we had a nice vacation, for notall the family got to go, but a
few of us did together.
Some of my older kids are indifferent parts of the country.
My oldest son is in Alaska, soI need to still get up there to
see him while he's been up thereand I want to go vacation.
So that's my plan.
Maybe next summer is to get toAlaska.
(16:42):
I've always wanted to do it, soI want to do it while he's
still living up there.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Well, it's a beautiful place to live.
I'd like to visit Alaskasomeday myself.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Okay, well, we'll make sure to send him this video
.
Yeah, He'll get to see you atleast on YouTube.
All right, so, professionally,you've been doing this for
enough years where you have seensome success stories.
I'm sure You've seen kids growwithin the program.
(17:11):
You've seen kids grow withinthe program.
So do you have a particularstory that stands out to you
that you would call success, orone that tugs at your
heartstrings or that you're justparticularly proud of?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Well, there's quite a few, but one that's probably
received some notoriety hererecently was a young lady that
lived in a residential programfor a number of years and then
she was placed in one of ourfamilies through, you know it
was the intention to adopt rightaway and I kept in touch with
this family.
There are a couple that liveout in Union, so out in your
neck of the woods there in BooneCounty, and this you know, like
I said, kept in touch with thisfamily.
But the girl that was adoptedreached back out to me when she
(17:59):
because she is attendingUniversity of Kentucky, she's
decided to major in social work.
So she reached out if she coulddo some volunteer work with us.
So I readily agreed to that andshe came in and I said well,
why don't you tell your story?
So she told her story, wrote itup and we put it on our
Facebook and social media and itwent viral.
(18:19):
She got calls from Peoplemagazine, good morning America,
and it was picked up around theworld and you know they did in
the local news stations here,did a story and covered them and
it just went viral.
It just went viral so fastforward.
She came and did her semesterpracticum with us right before
(18:39):
she graduated this past May ofthis year.
So she got to volunteer andwork with us for a whole
semester and so that is just atremendous story to see the
success that she had and to seethis mom and dad and you know we
had them tell their story tooand wrote it up and it's just,
it's so powerful what she wentthrough and what this family has
(19:00):
done.
So I love that.
But every one of our adoptionstories, as well as some of the
stories of kids that have, youknow, been able to reunite with
a birth mother and father, youknow we had one, two kids that
we really thought were going tobe adoption bound because their,
their mom and dad had such along history of drug and alcohol
addiction and then the fatherhad passed away from an overdose
(19:24):
and I just thought for surethat you know we were planning
for an adoption but their momwas imprisoned, you know, at the
end of this journey here andshe was able to get sober and
she came out of jail and stayedclean and we took a long time to
really work with her and letthe kids visit.
But this is the miraculous storyis that she continued her
(19:46):
sobriety and we reintroduced thekids because they were scared
to death of going back, becausethey knew what life was like
prior to that their wholelifetime.
These are young teenage kids,but mom was so successful and we
were so happy to see her andthese kids reunite for a happy
ever after.
And they have continued to dowell.
So I love adoption stories butI really like when you can
(20:10):
rehabilitate a family and seethem reunite because somebody
overcame Because that's probablythe biggest reason some of our
kids come in care maybe 85% asparents that have addiction and
abuse issues.
So if they could overcome thatand we know that's a hard thing
to do, but if they can what ajoy it is to see them succeed
(20:30):
and have a healthy family lifeagain them succeed and have a
healthy family life again.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, addiction is a very hard thing to overcome, so
to do that in and of itself is amiracle of sorts.
But then to have the familyreunited too, that's a great
story, and just one of the many,many, many stories I'm sure
(20:57):
that you have.
So if you were to, you know.
You've said you wantedvolunteers to be aware of the
program.
What are maybe the top two orthree indicators that maybe they
should be reaching out to youto learn more?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Well, I think anybody that has a stirring in their
heart and love for kids andthink you know and really want
to follow God's commandments andsay we are to love our neighbor
and care for them and servethem, and if they take that to
heart, you know, then that's.
The first obstacle is that theyneed to have that willingness
to self-sacrifice, because thisis a huge commitment to care for
(21:29):
another human being and it'snot always an easy task to do
that, because you are making alot of self sacrifices to what
you want to do in your leisuretime, because these kids need
you and are going to require alot of supervision and guidance
to help them along the way.
But so, having that desire andlove first of all, you know, but
we and then flexibility, beingrealistic in their expectations,
(21:52):
you know, and maybe beingpatient, you know, because
sometimes with working with thesystem the bureaucracy can be
frustrating because it mighttake longer than we think it
should for a child to be freedfor adoption and be able to go
through that process andfinalize.
But it's so worth it to gothrough that and I feel like as
an agency here for us being aprivate, faith-based agency,
(22:12):
we're there to support anyfamily and person that wants to
become a foster adoptive parent,and we work with single people,
married people, whether theyhave kids or not, you know,
whether they live in the ruralareas or urban areas or in a
suburb.
You know there's no typicalfoster adoptive parent.
They come from anywhere andeverywhere.
But I think that it's more oftheir internal characteristics
(22:35):
that we're looking for and maybeyou know, maybe what I would
say because of some of the needfor our older kids, maybe a
family, not that you know, we'veworked with young couples with
young children and that can work, but it might be a little bit
more of a challenge to place anolder kid in with a family, a
young family with other kids.
So maybe people that are haveteenagers in, you know, high
(22:57):
school students or those youngempty nesters are ready right
when their kids are going off tocollege, before they get too
accustomed to be in life withoutchildren in their home.
Those are the ones I reallylike to get because they have
parenting experience.
Maybe they're a little bit moremature and have lived a life
and feel like, hey, they have alittle bit more time maybe to do
a temporary foster carescenario for us, or maybe they
(23:20):
do have it in their life to say,yeah, we could help another
child and adopt them for thenext five to 10 years and just
help them launch them, becausewe've already done it.
Those are the folks that I'dreally like to hear this message
.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
So maybe really the only qualifier indicator is that
they've got to have it in theirheart, They've got to feel that
, calling the monthly meetingsthat you have with families, is
there a set schedule?
Do you just sort of how do you?
Do you announce it on yourwebsite?
How do people find out aboutthose?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yes, I have it on our website and I try to change up
the days and times, or notreally the time so much, but I
can.
I can do it even individually,but I try to do.
You know, one of these freemeetings, you know, starting at
630 on a Monday, tuesday orThursday evening typically is
what I do and I change that upin case somebody always has a
you know a certain night of theweek that they have another
(24:14):
activity.
So I try to change that up frommonth to month, um, you know,
and it just lasts an hour, anhour and a half, and I give a
little powerpoint presentationopen, you know, q a period, just
to explain things and letpeople be comfortable with
taking the next step, becausethat's what I wanted to do.
Just learn enough to say, yes,I'm ready to start training
(24:36):
classes.
And again, there's nocommitment anywhere along the
way.
You're not committing until youaccept a child into your home.
All of it is a learning and astep-by-step process.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Okay, so people can come see you regardless of
meetings.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
It's not just, the meeting is not the only way I
can do a Zoom meeting or alengthy phone conversation and
whatever it would take to getpeople comfortable enough to say
I'm ready to start the trainingclasses.
And we do four training classesa year because it's a 10 week.
You know commitment of timemeeting, you know we start one
this week on Thursday night, so,and then we'll do another one
(25:11):
in the fall on Tuesday nights,and then we'll do another one in
the fall on Tuesday nights.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
You had mentioned something earlier to me, before
we recorded this 30 hoursface-to-face.
What was that exactly?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, that is the training curriculum, so we would
ask people to come in.
Like this next group startstomorrow night, so they would
come at 630 until around 930,about a three hour period every
Thursday for 10 weeks.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Okay, so if people want to learn more, I've been to
your website and there's a lotthere.
There's a lot of information,and so what is the website you
want people to go to?
Speaker 1 (25:50):
It's our initials dcchcenterorg.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
And so your office is where it's on Orphanage Road, I
believe, is that correct, thatis correct.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
We're right here in the heart of Kenton County, in
Fort Mitchell, right between 275and 75 there.
So you're pretty convenient Ifeel like we are kind of do
accommodate the NorthernKentucky community.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Yeah, you are.
You're like right there in thecenter.
Well, okay, brother, our timetogether is pretty much up.
I think that we've done apretty good job of covering sort
of what you want people to knowabout DCCH, about the foster
and adoptive services.
Is there anything else that wehaven't talked about that before
(26:35):
we wrap, you'd like thelisteners to know.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Well, you know I mentioned our independent living
program and I didn't maybeexplain that as well enough,
because I love that If there'san older kid that's in our
system that we can't find anadoptive home.
I love that now we have fundingthat we're able to help a
person turning 18 if they chooseand want to stay committed till
they're 21 or, you know, theycould drop out in anywhere in
(27:01):
between but just to get themstarted, where we can set them
up an apartment and offer themcase management and counseling
services and just give them astart in life.
Because I know, at 18, Icouldn't have even imagined
stepping out on my own andtaking care of myself without my
family and the support.
So I love that we can do thisfor some of these kids who might
(27:21):
not have a relationship withbirth family and they're kind of
on their own.
So if we can help them with,you know, just teaching them a
lot of life skills and helpingthem with their rent and
utilities to get them a start inlife, financially especially.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
And doing the good work that you're doing is not
without cost.
So I know there have to bepeople out there who they would
love to help, but they justcan't help on the level of being
a volunteer.
But they would love to maybemake a financial gift or
whatever that looks like.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So yeah, I'm not the one that usually asks for money,
because I want to just berecruiting foster and adoptive
parents and our mentors for ourkids.
But you know, we wouldn't beable to do this without the
generosity of our community.
So, yes, we have differentfundraisers, but even people
that just want to help us out inany way or earmark it for any
(28:15):
one of our programs, we'd loveto have that financial support.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Okay, Well, I just want to make sure that people
understand that they can do thattoo if they feel compelled.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
One other thing I didn't say to you about when you
talk about fundraising.
We have a flea market that isrun 100% by community volunteers
, who receive all thesedonations that people just drop
off to us.
They clean it up, market andsell it and then the proceeds
come back to help us run ourprograms.
And it's all community andvolunteer run, 100% profit.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
That's a great way to raise money.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
It is and they have been so successful.
Retired bankers started itright when I was hired here in
99.
And it's continued and it'sgrown exponentially over the
years.
So they really are afundamental resource for us
financially and it's a great wayfor the community, because
there are always people lookingfor ways to donate stuff and
(29:17):
it's a great way to support usjust through things that they
are clearing out of their houseor garage or if there's an
estate that is trying to clearout.
We'd love to have that kind ofdonation.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
You're doing certainly your work.
You're doing God's work as well.
So thank you for everythingthat you're doing.
Certainly your work, you'redoing God's work as well.
So thank you for everythingthat you're doing for the
community, all the people you'rehelping, and I'm glad that we
could be a little little part ofit, thank you.
Thank you for having me.
I always sign off with the samesign off, show after show, and
(29:48):
that is we are the good neighborpodcast.
So until we talk again,everybody out there, be good to
your neighbor.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I'm selling everybody bye-bye thanks for listening to
the good neighbor podcast union.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnpunioncom.
That's gnpunioncom, or call usat 859-651-8330.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Murphy.
Thank you, Charlie.
Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast.
We like to interview localbusiness owners, influencers,
various different movers andshakers in the community, and
sometimes we talk to people whojust need to get a message out
(00:31):
to the community at large.
With us today, I'm with.
Ron.
Is your last name pronouncedBirch?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hey, that's a good guess.
Ron and I are meeting for thefirst time now.
He's director of foster careand what else there at DCCH.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
The adoption and our independent living programs.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Okay, because I know your title.
It's a big title, it's amouthful.
I stopped writing it down abouthalfway after you started
telling me and I thought I'mjust going to let him explain
what he does, after you startedtelling me and I thought I'm
just going to let him explainwhat he does.
So, having said that, with metoday is Ron Burch, director of
(01:15):
all that with DCCH, and he's gota few messages he wants to get
out to the community today.
So I'm going to help him dothat.
So, ron, thanks for joining metoday and welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Sure.
Well, thank you for having me.
I'm so excited about this.
You know that's my message tothe community is just letting
people know what we do here atthe Diocesan Catholic Children's
Home.
That's what DCCH stands for, bythe way, some people don't even
maybe not put that together,but it started as an orphanage
back 176 years ago.
(01:43):
As an orphanage back 176 yearsago, murph.
This has been our history as StJohn Orphanage out of Covington
and St Joe Orphanage out ofCold Spring, kentucky.
They merged in 1961 and changedthe name to the Diocesan
Catholic Children's Home with alittle bit of focus of working
with kids instead of trueorphans but legal orphans, kids
(02:04):
that were abused and neglectedin our community, that needed a
little bit more help in atreatment environment.
So that's still our flagshipprogram and operation here, you
know.
But in 1999, I was hired.
You know I had worked for thestate of Kentucky doing foster
care and adoption work and thencame here to DCCH in 99 to start
(02:25):
the programs with.
The first goal is to help thekids that were living here find
a good forever family throughadoption or, if somebody needed,
a temporary home and fostercare until they could move to a
back to their birth family or anadoptive home.
That was my mission.
But we've expanded and grownover the years and work with
kids all over the state thatneed these services, not just
(02:47):
the 32 kids that might live herein our residential program.
And then over the years we'veexpanded to other programs and
services and that's why theywanted to go by our initials
DCCH Center, because it was morethan just the children's home,
dcch Center because it was morethan just the children's home.
So we have an outpatientcounseling center here just to
(03:09):
work with anybody in thecommunity that might need
counseling services forindividual, family or marital
counseling, and they accept alltypes of medication or insurance
plus Medicaid insurance.
So that's something that welike to let people know that is
happening here on our FortMitchell campus.
And then we started morerecently a targeted case
(03:32):
management program and this wasto help prevent children from
coming into foster care.
So we see families that arestruggling and if we can have
services and supports to thosefolks or those parents to
prevent their kids from everentering foster care, we'd love
to be able to do that.
So those are the two things thatwere kind of new and then, like
I said, what I work with and incharge of is our foster care
(03:55):
and adoption program, and thesetwo are just our biggest need is
resources, because I can't workand help a child if I can't
recruit a good foster parent oran adoptive parent.
So I'm always getting thatmessage out to our community to
let them know that we are inneed.
There's just hundreds andhundreds of children across the
state that are referredliterally every day.
(04:16):
On average, murph, we haveabout 450 kids referred every
month for foster care placement.
So I can, you know, serve justa minuscule number of those
children that are referred to usbecause I can't recruit enough
families.
So that is our message and Ijust think people knew, you know
(04:36):
, that there were so manychildren that are available and
need a foster home and many ofthem also will need an adoptive
home.
So that's what I want to letpeople know to come and contact
us and talk to me and let usprepare them for this big
challenge of helping a kid.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Okay, well, there's a lot there, so let's kind of
take things piece by piece.
As you're speaking, there arequestions that I have.
One of them is you're talkingabout having kids being referred
, receiving referrals, for howdo those referrals come in?
Who refers the child?
How does that work?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Well, you know the state of Kentucky is in charge,
you know, with the judicialsystem, you know, to be able to
investigate any allegations ofabuse and neglect.
And if they find that and takethat to a judge and say, yes,
these kids are in danger, andit's pretty serious criteria.
They have to be in danger ofdeath or very serious harm.
(05:39):
So that's what a judge is goingto look at to be able to give
the state custody of that childand remove them from their birth
home or a relative or whereverthey may be living and in that
kind of dire circumstance.
So that's what the criteria isto get a kid in foster care.
And the children are here, sothey're placed in facilities all
(05:59):
over the state.
Some of them are emergencyreferrals that you know the
police are just been called andthere's a removal of a child and
then the state will send overtime.
They have high tech situationwhere they can email and
communicate to us through ourwebsite.
Every child that needs a homeand literally we're on average
(06:22):
getting 30, 40 of those a daythat we are reading and trying
to see if we can match them upwith one of our families that we
might have available.
And if we do, then we run withit and make that placement
happen.
Some of them can be very shortand sweet or some.
You know, if it's a child inour residential program, the
urgency is not there.
We can take our time and lookat this kid and their
(06:44):
circumstances and try to matchthem with a family, and I love
those kind of scenarios becausewe can take weeks and months
sometimes to have visitationwith that child and family to
make everybody comfortable andthen transition them into their
home them into their home.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
So when somebody, when a child is, when there's a
foster family that gets involved, what type of criteria does
somebody have to meet?
I know you're looking forvolunteers to be foster parents
at various different levels.
Some are temporary and thenmaybe there's permanent adoption
.
Is that correct?
What does somebody have to gothrough if they want to raise
their hand and say, hey, I'dlike to be a foster parent?
(07:27):
What's the next step after that?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
That's a great question and this can be some of
the misconceptions.
People are afraid of that.
But it's a little bit of aprocess.
It's not like they call and sayand then the next day we're
going to put a child in theirhome.
You know, they're going toreach out to me, we're going to
share information, give themsome education.
I invite them to a monthlyinformational meeting,
(07:49):
orientation that I have everymonth on a different day and
usually in the evening time foran hour, an hour and a half.
And if they feel comfortableafter that step, then we invite
them to our training program.
Feel comfortable after thatstep, then we invite them to our
training program.
You know it is the requirementthat we offer 30 hours of
face-to-face live training forany potential foster and
adoptive parent.
And it's during that 10-weekphase of reaching out, you know,
(08:12):
and providing that weeklytraining, that we give folks
their application paperwork, youknow.
So there is some involvementwith that.
You know we have to runbackground checks.
We're going to have themprovide a lot of proof of who
they are and proof of insurance,their license.
They have to get medicalverification.
We're going to get references.
(08:34):
You know we're going to gatherall that up and then write up a
home study narrative on thatfamily and and go through our
process to approve that personand try to see what would be a
good match for them.
How many kids could theyconsider?
One or more than a siblinggroup?
You know what's the best agerange would fit into their home
and they have say in this andtell us what they think is good.
(08:56):
And if we agree then that'swhat we're going to kind of
refer them to for the type ofchild.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Okay.
Well, what's the deficit, wouldyou say right now, you know,
number of kids looking forplacement versus the number of
families that are kind of goingthrough that training.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
There's a huge deficit and kids are waiting,
you know, and temporaryplacements in facilities like
our residential state.
They stay longer here becausewe don't have enough homes for
them.
So there is a great deficit andthe biggest need is for
families to consider olderchildren.
You know, 10 and older is atremendous need.
(09:37):
Most people seem to be morecomfortable saying, well, we'll
foster, adopt a baby or aninfant up to three years of age
or something like that.
Even though there's a need forthat, it's not as great of a
need as there are for older kids.
People that would considersibling groups, you know some
people can say, well, we canhelp one child, but we could
never take two or three or four.
But we want to keep siblingstogether, brothers and sisters
(09:59):
together, at all costs, if wecan do that.
And then children of minoritystatus they're a little bit
harder to place just becausethere's some folks might be
intimidated or afraid to do that.
So that is our need for olderkids, sibling groups and
minority children.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So if a family reaches out and they go through
the training and everythinghappens the way we all hope it
will, the child is placed intothe home.
Are there check-ins andcheck-ups periodically to make
sure that everything ishappening For sure, for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, yeah, we have our case management team that
will be assigned to every familyand every child and they're
going to be having weeklycontact and, you know, at least
once a month in the home havinga lengthier home visit and check
in.
And you know, sometimes we'lldo other types of check ins and
maybe they come in for a therapyappointment, because all our
(10:58):
kids that are what we consider atherapeutic need, for a therapy
appointment, because all ourkids that are what we consider a
therapeutic need, they're goingto have a counselor assigned to
them and families would usuallybring the children to us here
for counseling services andsometimes that could be weekly
or maybe bi-weekly.
You know we have a psychiatristand a psychologist on staff
that consult with us and help usguide the family and the child
(11:20):
and whatever their needs may be,and if it's a psychiatric need
then that doctor can prescribemedication for us if a kid has a
diagnosis that requires that.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Okay, how about on the financial side of things?
If somebody's afraid becausetheir heart says yes, but their
wallet says geez, I'm not sosure.
Is there financial assistancethat are kind of coming with
that child or children?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yeah, that's the good point here too, because I think
in the past that would havebeen a barrier, but I let people
know that that shouldn't evencrush your mind at this point,
if you are able to live withinyour means and take care of your
own needs.
The state of Kentucky and somefederal dollars are funneled
through us to be able to offer afamily a monthly stipend that
(12:07):
really should cover all thecosts of caring for the child.
In addition, the state providesMedicaid insurance so all their
health care needs are coveredthat way.
So a family's not purchasingtheir own or having to add them
to any private insurance plan.
That is all covered.
And the other thing that's good,murph, is if somebody you know
fosters a child and most of ouradoptions are like a foster to
(12:29):
adopt placement, and we lovethat for a child not to have to
transition again.
So if any of our foster familiesare open to the adoption, if a
child cannot go back home to abirth parent or a relative, then
we want our foster parents tohave first options to the
adoption of that child, andthat's predominantly what most
(12:50):
of our families end up doing,especially if a kid can't go
back home.
We've had success.
We just celebrated our 179thadoption that we facilitated
through our foster care program,so we're very proud and happy
for those families and kids tosee that happen.
But from a financial standpoint, the stipend is then there's
more federal dollars that aregiven to adopt a family.
(13:12):
That helps them all the waythrough the child's 18th year of
life, and they continue withthe Medicaid secondary insurance
if it's necessary, or it can betheir primary.
Some adoptive families mightalready have a family plan and
they can just add an adoptedchild into their private
insurance, but they would stillhave the Medicaid as a
(13:34):
supplement.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
So how long have you personally been the director of
the foster care and adoptionprogram?
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Well, you know, I just celebrated my 26th year
here at DCCH, and prior to thatI worked for 13 years, so 39
years of my life I've been doingthis work, and not only have I
done it professionally inhelping, but when I started in
this career, I saw the need andit just.
It was so overwhelming to meand so it just moved my heart so
(14:04):
much that when I met mywife-to-be, I said Julie, you
know, I feel like I'm called tofoster or adopt a child.
Are you with me on that?
And she agreed.
But she said just don't bringthem home and surprise me.
So, I said, no, it doesn't workthat way.
And, kind of like I describedto you earlier, we have a
process.
So she and I got to go throughthe training.
(14:26):
Even though I was leadingtraining, I got to switch roles
and be the recipient and gothrough a home study process and
we ended up adopting a siblinggroup of four children and we
had one child by birth.
So now, you know, now my kidsare all grown and some of them
are out of the home.
Some are still in the home withme, but they, you know, I've
(14:47):
lived it and done it and I thinkthat that helps me, you know,
relate to folks, because I canunderstand what I'm asking
people to do, because I've doneit myself.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
So on the personal front, then you've mentioned
your wife again.
What's her name?
Julie, julie, okay, so thenwe've shouted Julie out, and you
know you've mentioned the kidsthat you have various ages.
How old are the kids, if youcan remember?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Well, they're in range from 31 to 24 in age, so I
have five kids in a short,short time span.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So if they're going to listen to this and I hope
they all get a chance to whatare their names we want to shout
them out.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Oh, my oldest is Donovan, and then my second
child is Houston, third is Tyler, a daughter, carolyn, and then
my youngest is Sarah.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Okay, so when you're not at DCCH in your office, as
you are now, when you guys goout and have fun as a family,
what does that look like?
Do you have family vacationsthat you get to go on?
Oh, yeah.
So what type of fun do you guyshave as a family?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Well, we like to do all kinds of stuff and when they
were younger, you know, thingswere different.
We went to Disney a number oftimes and enjoyed that a couple
of times to the beach, of course, to let them experience all
those fun things.
Times to the beach, of course,to let them experience all those
fun things.
We just got back from Georgia.
We went down to Lake Oconee andcelebrated Fourth of July, so
(16:21):
we had a nice vacation, for notall the family got to go, but a
few of us did together.
Some of my older kids are indifferent parts of the country.
My oldest son is in Alaska, soI need to still get up there to
see him while he's been up thereand I want to go vacation.
So that's my plan.
Maybe next summer is to get toAlaska.
(16:42):
I've always wanted to do it, soI want to do it while he's
still living up there.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Well, it's a beautiful place to live.
I'd like to visit Alaskasomeday myself.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Okay, well, we'll make sure to send him this video
.
Yeah, He'll get to see you atleast on YouTube.
All right, so, professionally,you've been doing this for
enough years where you have seensome success stories.
I'm sure You've seen kids growwithin the program.
(17:11):
You've seen kids grow withinthe program.
So do you have a particularstory that stands out to you
that you would call success, orone that tugs at your
heartstrings or that you're justparticularly proud of?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Well, there's quite a few, but one that's probably
received some notoriety hererecently was a young lady that
lived in a residential programfor a number of years and then
she was placed in one of ourfamilies through, you know it
was the intention to adopt rightaway and I kept in touch with
this family.
There are a couple that liveout in Union, so out in your
neck of the woods there in BooneCounty, and this you know, like
I said, kept in touch with thisfamily.
But the girl that was adoptedreached back out to me when she
(17:59):
because she is attendingUniversity of Kentucky, she's
decided to major in social work.
So she reached out if she coulddo some volunteer work with us.
So I readily agreed to that andshe came in and I said well,
why don't you tell your story?
So she told her story, wrote itup and we put it on our
Facebook and social media and itwent viral.
(18:19):
She got calls from Peoplemagazine, good morning America,
and it was picked up around theworld and you know they did in
the local news stations here,did a story and covered them and
it just went viral.
It just went viral so fastforward.
She came and did her semesterpracticum with us right before
(18:39):
she graduated this past May ofthis year.
So she got to volunteer andwork with us for a whole
semester and so that is just atremendous story to see the
success that she had and to seethis mom and dad and you know we
had them tell their story tooand wrote it up and it's just,
it's so powerful what she wentthrough and what this family has
(19:00):
done.
So I love that.
But every one of our adoptionstories, as well as some of the
stories of kids that have, youknow, been able to reunite with
a birth mother and father, youknow we had one, two kids that
we really thought were going tobe adoption bound because their,
their mom and dad had such along history of drug and alcohol
addiction and then the fatherhad passed away from an overdose
(19:24):
and I just thought for surethat you know we were planning
for an adoption but their momwas imprisoned, you know, at the
end of this journey here andshe was able to get sober and
she came out of jail and stayedclean and we took a long time to
really work with her and letthe kids visit.
But this is the miraculous storyis that she continued her
(19:46):
sobriety and we reintroduced thekids because they were scared
to death of going back, becausethey knew what life was like
prior to that their wholelifetime.
These are young teenage kids,but mom was so successful and we
were so happy to see her andthese kids reunite for a happy
ever after.
And they have continued to dowell.
So I love adoption stories butI really like when you can
(20:10):
rehabilitate a family and seethem reunite because somebody
overcame Because that's probablythe biggest reason some of our
kids come in care maybe 85% asparents that have addiction and
abuse issues.
So if they could overcome thatand we know that's a hard thing
to do, but if they can what ajoy it is to see them succeed
(20:30):
and have a healthy family lifeagain them succeed and have a
healthy family life again.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, addiction is a very hard thing to overcome, so
to do that in and of itself is amiracle of sorts.
But then to have the familyreunited too, that's a great
story, and just one of the many,many, many stories I'm sure
(20:57):
that you have.
So if you were to, you know.
You've said you wantedvolunteers to be aware of the
program.
What are maybe the top two orthree indicators that maybe they
should be reaching out to youto learn more?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Well, I think anybody that has a stirring in their
heart and love for kids andthink you know and really want
to follow God's commandments andsay we are to love our neighbor
and care for them and servethem, and if they take that to
heart, you know, then that's.
The first obstacle is that theyneed to have that willingness
to self-sacrifice, because thisis a huge commitment to care for
(21:29):
another human being and it'snot always an easy task to do
that, because you are making alot of self sacrifices to what
you want to do in your leisuretime, because these kids need
you and are going to require alot of supervision and guidance
to help them along the way.
But so, having that desire andlove first of all, you know, but
we and then flexibility, beingrealistic in their expectations,
(21:52):
you know, and maybe beingpatient, you know, because
sometimes with working with thesystem the bureaucracy can be
frustrating because it mighttake longer than we think it
should for a child to be freedfor adoption and be able to go
through that process andfinalize.
But it's so worth it to gothrough that and I feel like as
an agency here for us being aprivate, faith-based agency,
(22:12):
we're there to support anyfamily and person that wants to
become a foster adoptive parent,and we work with single people,
married people, whether theyhave kids or not, you know,
whether they live in the ruralareas or urban areas or in a
suburb.
You know there's no typicalfoster adoptive parent.
They come from anywhere andeverywhere.
But I think that it's more oftheir internal characteristics
(22:35):
that we're looking for and maybeyou know, maybe what I would
say because of some of the needfor our older kids, maybe a
family, not that you know, we'veworked with young couples with
young children and that can work, but it might be a little bit
more of a challenge to place anolder kid in with a family, a
young family with other kids.
So maybe people that are haveteenagers in, you know, high
(22:57):
school students or those youngempty nesters are ready right
when their kids are going off tocollege, before they get too
accustomed to be in life withoutchildren in their home.
Those are the ones I reallylike to get because they have
parenting experience.
Maybe they're a little bit moremature and have lived a life
and feel like, hey, they have alittle bit more time maybe to do
a temporary foster carescenario for us, or maybe they
(23:20):
do have it in their life to say,yeah, we could help another
child and adopt them for thenext five to 10 years and just
help them launch them, becausewe've already done it.
Those are the folks that I'dreally like to hear this message
.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
So maybe really the only qualifier indicator is that
they've got to have it in theirheart, They've got to feel that
, calling the monthly meetingsthat you have with families, is
there a set schedule?
Do you just sort of how do you?
Do you announce it on yourwebsite?
How do people find out aboutthose?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yes, I have it on our website and I try to change up
the days and times, or notreally the time so much, but I
can.
I can do it even individually,but I try to do.
You know, one of these freemeetings, you know, starting at
630 on a Monday, tuesday orThursday evening typically is
what I do and I change that upin case somebody always has a
you know a certain night of theweek that they have another
(24:14):
activity.
So I try to change that up frommonth to month, um, you know,
and it just lasts an hour, anhour and a half, and I give a
little powerpoint presentationopen, you know, q a period, just
to explain things and letpeople be comfortable with
taking the next step, becausethat's what I wanted to do.
Just learn enough to say, yes,I'm ready to start training
(24:36):
classes.
And again, there's nocommitment anywhere along the
way.
You're not committing until youaccept a child into your home.
All of it is a learning and astep-by-step process.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Okay, so people can come see you regardless of
meetings.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
It's not just, the meeting is not the only way I
can do a Zoom meeting or alengthy phone conversation and
whatever it would take to getpeople comfortable enough to say
I'm ready to start the trainingclasses.
And we do four training classesa year because it's a 10 week.
You know commitment of timemeeting, you know we start one
this week on Thursday night, so,and then we'll do another one
(25:11):
in the fall on Tuesday nights,and then we'll do another one in
the fall on Tuesday nights.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
You had mentioned something earlier to me, before
we recorded this 30 hoursface-to-face.
What was that exactly?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, that is the training curriculum, so we would
ask people to come in.
Like this next group startstomorrow night, so they would
come at 630 until around 930,about a three hour period every
Thursday for 10 weeks.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Okay, so if people want to learn more, I've been to
your website and there's a lotthere.
There's a lot of information,and so what is the website you
want people to go to?
Speaker 1 (25:50):
It's our initials dcchcenterorg.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
And so your office is where it's on Orphanage Road, I
believe, is that correct, thatis correct.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
We're right here in the heart of Kenton County, in
Fort Mitchell, right between 275and 75 there.
So you're pretty convenient Ifeel like we are kind of do
accommodate the NorthernKentucky community.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Yeah, you are.
You're like right there in thecenter.
Well, okay, brother, our timetogether is pretty much up.
I think that we've done apretty good job of covering sort
of what you want people to knowabout DCCH, about the foster
and adoptive services.
Is there anything else that wehaven't talked about that before
(26:35):
we wrap, you'd like thelisteners to know.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Well, you know I mentioned our independent living
program and I didn't maybeexplain that as well enough,
because I love that If there'san older kid that's in our
system that we can't find anadoptive home.
I love that now we have fundingthat we're able to help a
person turning 18 if they chooseand want to stay committed till
they're 21 or, you know, theycould drop out in anywhere in
(27:01):
between but just to get themstarted, where we can set them
up an apartment and offer themcase management and counseling
services and just give them astart in life.
Because I know, at 18, Icouldn't have even imagined
stepping out on my own andtaking care of myself without my
family and the support.
So I love that we can do thisfor some of these kids who might
(27:21):
not have a relationship withbirth family and they're kind of
on their own.
So if we can help them with,you know, just teaching them a
lot of life skills and helpingthem with their rent and
utilities to get them a start inlife, financially especially.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
And doing the good work that you're doing is not
without cost.
So I know there have to bepeople out there who they would
love to help, but they justcan't help on the level of being
a volunteer.
But they would love to maybemake a financial gift or
whatever that looks like.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So yeah, I'm not the one that usually asks for money,
because I want to just berecruiting foster and adoptive
parents and our mentors for ourkids.
But you know, we wouldn't beable to do this without the
generosity of our community.
So, yes, we have differentfundraisers, but even people
that just want to help us out inany way or earmark it for any
(28:15):
one of our programs, we'd loveto have that financial support.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Okay, Well, I just want to make sure that people
understand that they can do thattoo if they feel compelled.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
One other thing I didn't say to you about when you
talk about fundraising.
We have a flea market that isrun 100% by community volunteers
, who receive all thesedonations that people just drop
off to us.
They clean it up, market andsell it and then the proceeds
come back to help us run ourprograms.
And it's all community andvolunteer run, 100% profit.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
That's a great way to raise money.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
It is and they have been so successful.
Retired bankers started itright when I was hired here in
99.
And it's continued and it'sgrown exponentially over the
years.
So they really are afundamental resource for us
financially and it's a great wayfor the community, because
there are always people lookingfor ways to donate stuff and
(29:17):
it's a great way to support usjust through things that they
are clearing out of their houseor garage or if there's an
estate that is trying to clearout.
We'd love to have that kind ofdonation.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
You're doing certainly your work.
You're doing God's work as well.
So thank you for everythingthat you're doing.
Certainly your work, you'redoing God's work as well.
So thank you for everythingthat you're doing for the
community, all the people you'rehelping, and I'm glad that we
could be a little little part ofit, thank you.
Thank you for having me.
I always sign off with the samesign off, show after show, and
(29:48):
that is we are the good neighborpodcast.
So until we talk again,everybody out there, be good to
your neighbor.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I'm selling everybody bye-bye thanks for listening to
the good neighbor podcast union.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnpunioncom.
That's gnpunioncom, or call usat 859-651-8330.
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