Vol. 16, No. 2 • May 2012

Greetings from the NC Foster and Adoptive Parent Association’s Newly Elected President

by Wanda Douglas

As your newly elected President, I thought I would take this opportunity to let you know who I am and why I’m here.

I reside in Charlotte, NC and have been married to Tony Douglas for 24 years. We have three teenagers (ages 16, 14, and 13), so there are hormones raging everywhere at our house!

We have been therapeutic foster parents for 12 years and have fostered over 75 youth, from infants to teenagers, with a special emphasis on teens. We are also the proud parents of a three-year-old Giant Schnauzer named Sasha (who is sometimes mistaken for a mini black pony).

The next greatest priority of my life is that I am a homeschool teacher for two of my three children, one of whom requires specialized instruction outside of the home.

I’ve been a part of NCFAPA since 2005. I have been Treasurer, Secretary, and Vice President of Region 1 for the NCFAPA. I am also seated as Vice President of Region 4 on the National Foster Parent Association Board of Directors. I have been president of two private therapeutic foster parent associations and a State Representative for NACAC (North American Council for Adoptable Children).

I’m also a professional parent trainer. I provide training for the Jordan Institute for Families at UNC-CH, Independent Living Resources, Inc., the Maternal Child & Health Leadership Program, as well as state and local agencies.

Goals
My goal as President of NCFAPA is to continue to advocate for foster and adoptive parents at the state and national level with continued involvement in family- and child-centered activities. As a representative on the state and national level, I have been invited to sit on policy making committees and have been providing input from the family perspective to the NC Department of Health and Human Services and others.

With the help of the entire NCFAPA Board of Directors and input from you, our members, it is our goal to implement new programs, services, and benefits that will bring added value and grow our membership around the state. Our new website (coming soon!) will provide lots of great information, so please stay connected.

Thanks for a Wonderful Conference
I enjoyed seeing you all at the Association’s 14th Annual Conference in Charlotte. Thank you so much for your support and participation. We wanted to honor our parents in a special way this time, so instead of recognizing one foster parent of the year and one adoptive parent of the year, we decided to honor all our foster and adoptive parents with a certificate. It’s official: we declare 2012 “The Year of the Parents.” You all deserve to be recognized!

It was also an honor to give special recognition at this year’s conference to our former president, Stacey Darbee. I don’t know anyone who has worked or fought harder for the Association, our parents, and the children we serve than this woman (and her family). Stacey, we salute you, we honor you, and we say Thank You from the bottom of our hearts for all the years of commitment and loyalty you provided to us all.

I want to thank all our presenters and exhibitors. Without you, we would not have been able to provide a conference for our families. Thanks, too, to Paige Gunter, our training coordinator. She is truly a blessing to this organization; it is due to all of her hard work behind the scenes that things keep moving.

And finally, thank you to the entire Board of Directors. You are the best. It has been a very challenging year for NCFAPA, but you hung in there. As a result we are still here—and growing!

I am excited about the direction we are moving toward and I thank you all for the opportunity to serve you.

God bless you and your families.

Wanda

~ Family and Children's Resource Program, UNC-CH School of Social Work ~