For Middle Tennessee-based Jaywanna Neal, fostering is second nature. Growing up, her mom opened her home to foster children and adopted a pair of siblings. When Jaywanna was single and in her 20s, she took in her first foster child. She said it was a great...
Middle Tennessee group homes receive large amount of support from local businesses and community.
COVID-19 forced Youth Villages to make quick changes to programming in early March, but we’re continuing to meet the needs of our group home residents, children, families and young people during the pandemic.
For the fourth year in a row, Youth Villages is partnering with the Nashville Film Festival for the Livin’ Reel project. Livin’ Reel connects local artists with at-risk youth to create an original piece of art. The project will premiere during this year’s virtual festival from October 1-7, 2020.
Young people who turn 18 in foster care are resilient and want to become successful adults. Zoe, entered state custody at 14 years old and moved around a lot before “aging out.”
“I never really unpacked my clothing because I moved so much. I kept it in whatever bag I could find,” he says.
When COVID-19 forced everyone to make dramatic changes and in-person activities were suspended, Youth Villages’ volunteers remained committed to helping in any way they could. With the help of our established Friend In Need volunteer group, former Backpack Heroes and Holiday Heroes, and current group home volunteers, staff was able to immediately jump into action.
This year, a record number of 117 Middle Tennessee young men and women in Youth Villages’ LifeSet program graduated from either high school or college. This is a 30-graduate increase over last year! One shining example of the youth who have graduated is Hailey B.
COVID-19 forced Youth Villages to make quick changes to programming in early March, but we’re continuing to meet the needs of our group home residents, children, families and young people during the pandemic.
May is National Foster Care Awareness Month. In Tennessee, approximately 8,000 children are in foster care at any given time. With fewer than 4,000 foster families, the need is ever-present; even during COVID-19. National statistics show that a new child is placed into care every two minutes.
Taylor and Tony Barnes are two Youth Villages employees from Cookeville, Tennessee, who married in August. Taylor is a family intervention specialist, and Tony is a LifeSet specialist. They looked forward to starting their lives together, until they lost everything as devastating tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee.