Pam Price was very involved in high school activities – from cheerleading to basketball, she kept herself busy in her teenage years. After a school event one night, she remembers seeing a crowd of parents, waiting to drive their sons and daughters home. It was a mundane moment, but it had special significance for Pam, who grew up in a single-parent home. With her parent at work, Pam walked home alone in the dark. It was then that Pam first thought about becoming a foster parent.
As part of National Runaway Prevention Month, this story features Justin Springer, a Cornerstones of Care Response Team Coordinator, and his efforts to reduce child runaways in Missouri.
In the past two months, the Cornerstones of Care Executive Leadership Team (ELT) added two new members, and three people have been elevated to new positions.
On a cruise in 2020, Joshua and Matt discussed what type of family they wanted. Their conversation included fostering, adopting, or having children through a surrogate. The couple, married in 2018, knew they wanted a family; they just weren't sure what form it would take. They made their decision in 2020 when a friend, who is a foster care case manager, mentioned a teenager who identified as LGBTQ+ and had asked to be placed with a same-gender couple. Joshua and Matt were motivated to become foster parents, even though they wouldn't be licensed in time to foster the teen who made the request.
Cultivating plants is so much more than digging in the dirt. Three of our programs help participants get their hands dirty—and gain knowledge and confidence in the process. And all of these programs are possible thanks in part to our annual plant sale.
