TVN celebrates several milestones in 2011 beginning with our 65th Anniversary. The new year brings other notable high points including the 35th year for our volunteer organization Friends of Boys’ Village (FOBV) and 50 years of support from the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

TVN’s Gault Youth and Family Center located on our main campus in Wooster will celebrate a 5-year anniversary and this year’s gala fundraiser – Sweet Jubilation – will mark its 10th year. All of these special dates are reasons for you to get involved! We need ideas, planners, helpers and givers! Email Tim today with ideas on how to use your talents at thoman@thevillagenetwork.com.

You can start by helping FOBV plan its celebration. Join FOBV members for a focus group Friday, Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. on Boys’ Village Campus, Wooster. The group hopes to share memories and outline a plan to celebrate 35 years of volunteerism.
 

New pajamas and handmade pillow cases are a really big deal for children of all ages but especially for boys and girls who have very little and were treated poorly. Thanks to the efforts of one TVN employee, all the youth inside all the programs across the 11 network locations get both bedtime treasures plus a new book!

Deb Klett, support services assistant on TVN-Boys’ Village Campus, was moved by a story about a little girl in the foster care program. The child said she “didn’t sleep so well because she slept on a pillow that smelled like someone else.” Deb set out to fix that challenge by enrolling TVN in the national Pajama Program and the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge.

Today TVN has received over 300 pillow cases from generous individuals and local shops. Dollars from the Columbus-based Beck Foundation purchased new pillows. Deb personally gathers size and age information on the boys and girls in our care and submits regular requests for new, individualized pajamas.

Check out Deb’s story on our website.
 

TVN-Columbus has helped at-risk youth for 15 years. On average it works with over 200 troubled and traumatized boys and girls each year. One of the location’s premier programs is Community-Based Foster Care which is a partnership with Franklin County Children Services.

The community-based foster care program began in 2009 and works to keep siblings together in a stable foster care home while working with the entire family. The unique twist to TVN’s model is the involvement of the foster care parents with the biological family.

“Our primary goal is to help birth parents and families learn, grow, heal and change in ways to enable them to achieve healthy family interaction and healthy patterns of living,” said Susie Parr, TVN-South Regional Director. “Our foster families are trained as an extension of the biological family and serve as mentors and models for birth families.”

Read about one of the recent success stories.
 

Recently TVN took part in a segment of Parenting Points, an outreach radio program sponsored by Family & Children First Council, Wayne County. Angie Speigle, Treatment Foster Care Coordinator for TVN’s Central Region joined on-air hosts Mary Mertic and Cherie Graham to discuss the difference between traditional foster care and treatment foster care. They also touched on the critical need for foster parents.

The group was kind enough to let us follow the progress from the initial script reading to recording session. Check out the fun in our Photo Gallery.