For Spring Hill residents Carly and Chrissy Shogren, Mother’s Day is something they never expected to be able to celebrate for themselves. Fortunately, their willingness to be flexible and open led to becoming mothers becoming a reality.
![Youth Villages making moms — and dads — through fostering](https://youthvillages.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Carly-and-Crissy-tbn.jpg)
For Spring Hill residents Carly and Chrissy Shogren, Mother’s Day is something they never expected to be able to celebrate for themselves. Fortunately, their willingness to be flexible and open led to becoming mothers becoming a reality.
In the spring sunshine of a recent Saturday, Sharika Carpenter remembered her darkest day – the day her 17-year-old son, Braylon Murray, was robbed, shot and killed at a Memphis carwash.
Dear Youth Villages, My name is Amber, and I am 23 years old. I lost my dad at a very young age and grew up with a mother who battled addiction and untreated trauma that led to many mental health problems leaving her incapable of caring for herself or for me.
Troy Dotson’s face tells part of his story… there’s a six-point star with a ‘G’ for Gangster Disciples on his cheek. Two other tattoos there signify the “work” he put in for the gang and his high rank in the organization.
Imagine this scenario: You’re a dormitory resident assistant (RA) on a college campus. A winter storm comes through, dumping several inches of snow and lowering temperatures below freezing. Then, the dorm’s pipes burst. Suddenly, your residents have no water—to drink, shower or even flush toilets. They all are looking to you for help and guidance.
Julie Lester, chief program officer for the Missouri Alliance for Children and Families (MACF), says the “Show-Me” State not only needed LifeSet but craved something like it. Initial implementation proceeded despite the pandemic, and now MACF is expanding LifeSet to a second location.
Nineteen-year-old Dallas, a young man in southwest Missouri, sees his LifeSet specialist as more than just a health professional working to help him. She’s more like a friend walking with him every step—something he hasn’t always had.
Darin Hudson is a Licensed Program Expert with Turning Points, a LifeSet implementing provider based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Darin joined Turning Points in 2014 and has grown his career with LifeSet. In this Q&A, Darin explores his journey from specialist to Licensed Program Expert with the hope of inspiring others to take the opportunity to grow with LifeSet.
Daily Memphian reporter Don Wade goes on a “ride-along” with the Youth Villages Intercept program, which recently received a “well-supported” rating from the Title IV-E Clearinghouse.
Dominique and Kevin Gill continue to change the lives of children in foster care—children like Andrew who was adopted by the Gills in 2020.