Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 4-15-16 Edition
P. 16
Local
One Church One Child Of Florida To Host Ribbon Cutting Of Riverview Office
One Church One Child of Florida announces the opening of their Riverview Office to serve the SunCoast Region and assist in ad- dressing the critical need for adoptive and foster families and homes and mentors for children in foster care.
A ribbon cutting cere- mony is scheduled for Tues- day, April 26, 2016 from 11:30 a. m. – 1 p. m. at Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church located at 5920 Robert Tolle Drive in Riverview. Refreshments will be served and there will be information available on adopting, fostering, mentor- ing, partnering and volun- teering.
Remember that on any given day, there are about 800 children in Florida’s foster care system available and waiting with no family
CHAVON – (Photo By Marissa Moss)
IYANA & SOLOMON – (Pezz Photo)
dren in foster care. Rev. Beverly H. Lane serves as the Florida State Board of Directors President and Re- gional Vice-President for National One Church One Child.
There is a great need for adoptive parents to provide a loving, permanent home for children in foster care. Now is also the time to find critically needed foster fam- ilies who can provide a tem- porary home for children needing a temporary family until permanency can be found as well as mentors who can offer guidance.
EMMANUEL – (Photo By Dan Weisberg)
If you would like more information regarding be- coming an adoptive or fos- ter parent, mentor, partner or volunteer, and/or to RSVP for the Office Ribbon Cutting please contact LaKay Fayson, Recruit- ment Coordinator for One Church One Child of Florida’s SunCoast Region, at (813) 740-0210 or lakay_fayson@ococfl.org.
The website for One Church One Child of Florida is www.ococfl.org.
identified to adopt them. Over 50% of the children waiting are minorities.
The One Church One Child program was founded in 1980 to help the state of
Illinois successfully address the disproportionate num- ber of African American children lingering in the fos- ter care system. The pro- gram was implemented in Florida in March of 1988 to address the state’s overrep- resentation problem. One Church One Child of Florida partners with the Florida Department of Children and Families, churches and community based care lead agencies and local organiza- tions to help raise aware- ness and educate the faith community and individuals regarding the needs of chil-
PAGE 4-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2016