PURE Living Nashville is proud to work with a number of organizations and non-profit groups to offer advice, share information and improve our readers’ wellbeing. Brittany Farrar, Regional Director of Programs, Youth Villages of Middle Tennessee, writes about what we can expect from her series of upcoming articles, and what Youth Villages does for families in Tennessee.
As the Regional Director of Programs at Youth Villages, we are excited to partner with PURE Living Nashville to bring monthly columns that focus on topics related to youth and teen issues. Some of our future columns will examine mental wellness, healthy relationships, positive body images, social media usage, suicide prevention, bullying, communicating with your teen, and much more.
Youth Villages is one of the largest providers of children’s behavioral health in Tennessee and has been serving the Middle Tennessee community for over twenty years. Our goal is to help children with emotional and behavioral issues live successfully with their family – biological, foster or adoptive family.
The majority of our youth have experienced trauma due to abuse and/or neglect and our licensed clinicians work with these youth in one of our evidence-based programs – foster care, adoption, residential group homes, specialized crisis services, mentoring, Intercept, intensive in-home family counseling, and LifeSet services for former foster youth transitioning into adulthood.
Since our goal is to strengthen families, this first article focuses on what it means to truly be a family. What better time with Thanksgiving right around the corner? Family means something different to each person because no family is the same; whether your family is more traditional, a childless family, a step-family or adoptive family, each is unique in their own way.
Not everyone has a family especially those children in the foster care system. More than 9,000 children are in foster care in Tennessee and many of these youth are awaiting adoption.
November is Adoption Awareness Month, and we invite you and your family to help these kids find forever homes. Share information about the need for foster parents on social media, research the topic with your children to promote awareness, make a donation or volunteer at a local foster care agency. Take time this holiday season with your family to create new traditions, bring back old traditions, volunteer together or do something fun.
On behalf of the volunteers and staff at Youth Villages, we hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family.
Youth Villages of Middle Tennessee annually serves 5,500 children, young people and their families through a continuum of programs that include foster care, adoption, residential services, specialized crisis services, mentoring, LifeSet and Intercept. The mission is to help children and families live successfully. Locally, Youth Villages has offices in Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Dickson and Nashville.
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