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PROGRAM WINS 19TH DISNEY AWARD

At the Walt Disney Community Service Awards Breakfast held on September
20th, 2001, the Foster Grandparent Program won its 19th Walt Disney
Community Service Award. Connie Hurlebaus, Past-Chairperson of the Advisory
Council, accepted the award on behalf of the program. The program received
a beautiful trophy and a check for $3,000.

FAMILY CAREGIVER SUPPORT PROGRAM

There is an increasing need for service to Grandparents and other non-parental
relatives placed in the position of caring for children. The reason for this
growing need includes: domestic violence, parental incarceration, drug
addiction, teen parents, as well as economic influences. Those families in the
lower economic strata usually take the children without formal agreement or
support mechanism.

When Grandparents and other relatives are faced with being the primary
caregiver, more times than not, they are unprepared for this new role and
unfamiliar with the systems they will be required to rely on for services, i.e.,
the legal system, educational system, welfare system, child care, and other
social systems. Additionally, relative caregivers must face emotional issues
surrounding the breakdown in the family: anger and guilt associated with the
family, responsibilities of the situation and "who is to blame." The caregiver,
children and other family members are faced with these issues while trying to
stabilize the family.

In an attempt to meet this community need, the Foster Grandparent Program
has formed a partnership with Seniors First, Inc. to provide needs assessments
and organize focus groups to identify Grandparents as relative caregivers and to
update and publish an information and service manual to assist those in need.

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Happy New Year! This has been a great year for the Foster Grandparent
Program of Central Florida. As the needs of our community have increased, we
have been able to increase our services to meet those needs. This was
accomplished through increased community resources, new partnerships and
dedicated staff.

As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, I must reflect back over the past 30 years
to how the Foster Grandparent Program started and where we are now. In
1972, the program started with 80 Foster Grandparents all working with
mentally challenged children in Sunland Hospital. Today, we have 252 Foster
Grandparents working with children with diverse special or exceptional needs
in more than 80 sites. As the needs of our community have changed, the
program has demonstrated the flexibility and the ability to meet these
changing needs. Foster Grandparents are limited income senior volunteers who
spend an average of 20 hours per week giving love, guidance, instruction, and
most of all, one-on-one attention to our children who have special deficits-
educational, social, behavioral, and physical.

The long existence and success of the program is exemplary of
intergenerational programs. It took our society a few generations to understand
the importance that all generations play in the development of our children and
our communities. Successful communities have broken down the generation
barriers and have integrated people of all ages into their communities. In our
community, this has been done through the Foster Grandparent Program.

We wish to thank our community for having the foresight to recognize the
significance of children having access to our older generation, to value the
experience and skills of our older persons and to use their knowledge in
addressing community needs.

Ann E Smith

Director

HOLIDAY FOOD BASKETS

Each year, the Foster Grandparent Program provides approximately fifty food
baskets to Foster Grandparents most in need and to those who have no
relatives in their area with whom they can share the holiday meal. This year
volunteers from Waste Management Orlando delivered 52 baskets to the
Grandparent's homes on December 21st. We wish to thank all those that made
this project a success.

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GRANT

The Foster Grandparent Program of Central Florida received a $10,000 grant
from the Community Foundation to develop a partnership with the Children's
Home Society, which will allow two Foster Grandparents to provide warmth,
love and comfort to children in crisis at the Lilley House. This program
provides emergency shelter and other services for children, birth to 11 years,
who can no longer live in their homes due to neglect, abuse or lack of family
support. The Lilley House, located in Casselberry, is a renovated house that
provides a warm, nurturing environment to approximately 15 children on any
given day. Since this is an emergency shelter, the length of stay is usually 30
days or until a permanent home is secured for the children in crisis. Children
could be returned to their family, placed with relatives or placed in foster
care. The Department of Children and Families make the determination with
input from the Children's Home Society.

Pauline Christopher, a Foster Grandparent at the Lilley House, is the typical
Grandmother. Pauline assists in stabilizing the children to deal with their
traumatic situation. She can be seen rocking infants and toddlers, playing games
and giving lots of hugs. KC Hendrickson, Volunteer Coordinator with the
Children's Home Society, remarked, "The Foster Grandparents are invaluable
and have so much to offer our children. We sincerely appreciate all the love
that Pauline gives to the children and the staff."

Our community is fortunate to have the Lilley House with a staff that is so kind
and committed to the care of children. The Children's Home Society and Lilley
House are to be commended for their efforts toward providing a better place
for the children in our community.