FROM OUR VOLUNTEERS

“We, as volunteers, are able to objectively judge, suggest, mediate, and help solve the problems that children, foster parents, and even case workers are experiencing. The fact that the judges actually listen and take into consideration our findings keeps us coming back. Just knowing that we are making a small, positive dent in this huge bureaucracy keeps me coming back.”
~ Joan Smith

“…meeting some of the children and interviewing them. It makes what we are trying to do real. Also getting to know the other panelists is interesting and rewarding. Some of them go above and beyond in their duties; it’s a humbling experience to work with them.”
~ Pat R. Marx

“My most rewarding experiences have been the successful adoptions by loving and caring families.”
~ Robert Rosen

“Overall I do believe that as citizens and as a community that we need to encourage volunteering for this program because it is the future. I do believe that it also helps on a personal level to sacrifice oneself from being totally self involved and give of ourselves to those that truly need it and most often get overlooked in the system.”
~ Judy Genao

“I was amazed at the tragedies the children go through. We all know these things exist intellectually, but when you actually learn the details, it’s horrifying. But when there are adoptions it’s fabulous. Occasionally we’ll have a final review prior to an adoption and we all celebrate. It’s really quite festive.”
~ Peter Forrest

“After a year you start understanding what the attorneys and case workers are up against. You start seeing kids a second or third time. Maybe their grades have improved or they’re settling into a foster home. You thought a kid’s life was ruined, and there they are, getting ready to move on and go to college. You do see that.”
~ Wendy Sejour

“I feel like I make a difference. To see kids pull their lives together, stop being so angry and gain some achievements – it makes you feel so great.”
~ Nadine Johnson

“Our volunteer work means kids are not being put in the system and then forgotten.”
~ Rosalie and Jerome Beloff

“It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.”
~ Wendy Sejour

“What touches me the most is when you see teenagers overcome all kinds of backgrounds and difficulties. When those children have been in foster care system for a number of years, but have begun to make good decisions and are moving in the right direction in terms of school, and future plans… that is so gratifying.”
~ Barbara Rostov

“It’s the children suffering who need us the most. They need my voice, the voice of my panel members, your voice. They need us to speak out. They need us to protect them and advocate for them because they can’t navigate the system themselves.”
~ Ellen Kanner

“I loved the idea of citizens taking their vision and their hearts and their hopes for the community to help keep kids from languishing in foster care.”
~ Peggy Hudson