My name is Maddie Freeman, and I am a rising senior at Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania. I am studying Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Smeal College of Business. I am planning on entering the nonprofit sector to work in development or going full-time with my sustainable clothing business, Grit & Grace Thrifts. In my free time, I love hanging out with friends, cooking, going on walks with my dog, thrifting, and traveling.
For eight weeks this past summer, I was given the opportunity to be Diakon’s corporate communications department intern, and for that, I am so grateful. During that time, I enjoyed getting to take the lead on the Family Connections newsletter. This was the main project I worked on during my time, and my favorite part of that was interviewing four different Diakon Adoption & Foster Care families. Getting to interact with them and read their stories about how their families came to be was especially inspiring.
This was my first time working directly in a large nonprofit, and it was an eye-opening experience. My previous experience was with nonprofits that only had a handful of employees, so working for Diakon was a change of pace.
I was pleasantly surprised at how helpful and responsive the staff was when I asked for stories or photos to help me with my projects, and it really did emphasize how much this organization operates as a team. Since I am interested in working full-time for a nonprofit after I graduate from Penn State, it was very beneficial for me to see a snippet of how a large organization works.
I learned some of the skills that seem to be important for a job in communications are articulate writing abilities, being organized, staying on top of projects and deadlines, and being flexible. Since I was really at the mercy of others to respond to me so that I could complete most of my projects, I learned that something as simple as including a deadline request in an email was really important for getting a timely response. Regardless of where I end up in my career, I think these skills that I was able to develop this summer will be extremely beneficial to me.
The main takeaway from my internship with Diakon was that nonprofits really are a team, and in order to succeed, everyone needs to cooperate and help one another. Each staff member is furthering the mission in some way, so by being flexible and helping one another, the clients of Diakon receive excellent care and service. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity.
We want you to meet the Foltz and Del Priore family and read about their desire to provide a safe and enriching environment for their son, Greyson… as well as for any future siblings they may adopt!
“They are truly an amazing couple and are advocates for inclusivity. They have immersed themselves in learning all things trauma-related and have taken our CORE Teen training program twice in order to better care for the youth they parent. When you get the opportunity to speak with them… you will be amazed.” – Diakon’s Permanency Services Supervisor, Gwen Albert
Mary and Danielle have a soft spot for LGBTQ youths who are trying to find their way into adulthood. Danielle was a mathematics major in college and Mary teaches English, so they have many bases covered to help teenagers excel in their education and pursue their career goals. They also enjoy many activities that provide a fun and interesting environment, including cultural events, hiking, volunteer work and Lehigh Valley Phantoms games!
We reached
out to this wonderful couple and asked them to tell us about their family’s
journey that culminated in the adoption of their son, Greyson.
When asked to share their family’s story and any advice for people looking to adopt an older child, Mary said:
“Danielle and I decided to adopt because we wanted to grow our family. Like most parents, we wanted to share our love with a child, to support them as they grow into the adult that they were meant to be and experience the joy of witnessing the evolution of the life of a child. Danielle and I also chose to adopt through the SWAN program because we both had challenging teenage years and felt that we had unique insights into this age.
Our family came to be through the wonderful staff at Diakon and supportive state social workers who introduced us to our son through the SWAN program. We met our son over zoom during the early months of the COVID pandemic…and felt connected to him right away.
Throughout our early meetings, we learned more about his life, his interests, his unique personality and his challenges. He learned about our interests, quirky personalities and our challenges, too! Over the months that we met, he came to feel that he could trust us enough to take a leap and move to our neck of the woods in Pennsylvania. We were overjoyed! In the early months, I took parental leave so that I could spend time with him, support him in online high school classes (due to COVID) and take a long walk with him every day. We shared family meals, made time to have fun together and slowly began to build our family connection.
While it took some time for us to bond after his initial placement in our home, we worked together in family therapy to forge a greater understanding and support him through his fears and anxieties. Danielle and I enrolled in the trauma-informed parenting classes through Diakon so that we could be the best parents that we could be. The first day that our son told us that he loved us was a momentous day; he worried that it might be too soon to say those words. But I told him that we too felt love for him and that we were planting our seed of love and that it would grow and grow, and it has over the years that he has lived with us. On adoption day, we all wore t-shirts with a sapling, which signifies that the seed of our love has taken root. Every day, I am so grateful that he chose us to be his parents. What a gift and a blessing he is in our lives!
One piece of advice that I would give to parents looking to adopt an older child is to take a trauma-informed parenting class; it is absolutely transformative as you think about parenting skills that will benefit a child who has survived trauma.
Secondly, I learned in this class to look beyond the behavior to the need that is motivating it; older children inevitably will have behaviors that you would like them to address, but the need is the more important thing to understand. We try to be curious about a behavior and to talk through the emotional needs that are underneath it rather than becoming angry or frustrated. Once you can identify the need together, you can begin to imagine with your child how they might get that need met without acting out. Family therapy is a great way to set up lines of communication that will be essential for parents adopting older children.
Thirdly, enjoy the ride and create time to have fun with your child as play, laughter and joy forge your bond. These moments will be the precious glue that allows your child and you to grow together through more challenging times.”
What they found most surprising:
“Honestly, I just did not know what to expect. We really had some challenging days in the early months when our son moved in with us, but, today, I don’t really remember those months vividly. Instead, I recall all of the wonderful times that we had and have together as a family. One thing that did surprise me was how committed our child was to building a family with us and the process of becoming family. Every step of the way, he was courageous; he took risks sharing his feelings, his past experiences and his hopes for our family. He surprises me almost every day with some interesting insight, intellectual idea or interpretation of a song he likes! We are so blessed to be able to witness him come into his own.”
Why they adopted an older child:
“Here are a few reasons why we were interested in adopting an older child:
First, we both have experience with teenagers (one of us is a teacher and some of our nieces and nephews are teens).
Secondly, teenagers are in an exciting time of life when they are figuring out the kind of adults that they want to be; thus, it is a time full of rich conversations about values and visions for the future. Many teenagers are eager to talk about it all: the meaning of life, what a healthy relationship might look like, what jobs they might want to explore, a college that might be right for them, etc. Because they are older, there is a wonderful opportunity to walk with them through this period of growth and dreaming. Yet they are still kids who need (and want despite teenage moodiness!) input from parents. The trick for me is to avoid nagging and instead approach their life choices with curiosity, questions about values and visions of the kind of person that they want to be.
Our experience with adopting an older child has been rich and beautiful. He has brought so much to our life. Adopting an older child, our child, proved challenging at times, but he is the miracle that has changed our lives for the better. I could not be more grateful for our son, for the family that he allowed us to have and more excited for our future years together.”
** If you or someone you know is interested in adoption or foster care, please visit our website for more information: www.diakon.org/adoption
When you hit a roadblock, you need to turn around and find a better path. That’s what happened to Troy Hertzog when some poor decisions built quite a roadblock to him living a typical teenage life. He turned things around with the help of Turning Point, a program of Diakon Youth Services.
Troy, a student at Columbia High School in Lancaster County, was behind on credits and had truancy issues. With his success at Turning Point, he got his credits back on track and was successfully able to join CTC (Lancaster County Career and Technology Center). In this vo-tech school, he now studies automotive technology for his senior year of high school.
Troy turned his behaviors around and was a true success in and out of the program. As a result, Turning Point paid his fines/costs in full, and he was able to get off probation.
The overarching mission of Turning Point is to keep adjudicated youths in home settings through effective and meaningful community-based interventions. The Turning Point Day Program provides an alternative academic setting for post-adjudicated males. The program works collaboratively with juvenile probation, children and youth departments, the Lancaster/Lebanon Intermediate Unit, students, families and community resources.
County personnel grant students the opportunity to participate in this therapeutic program, designed to address their competency in social, academic and work skills so that they can return to their family and community better prepared to make decisions that reflect productive and positive values.
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
This Maya Angelou quote is something I heard early in my career working with long-term care and memory care residents that continues to touch my heart. Many of my residents do not remember the activities or special programs that I provide to help enhance their quality of life, but they do remember how they made them feel: happy, joyful, reflective, peaceful, calm, etc.
It was with that understanding in mind that I spent 2 1/2 weeks in September in Zambia, a country landlocked at the crossroads of central, southern, and east Africa. The trip was possible thanks in part to Diakon’s Love of Our Neighbor Fund. With its support, I benefited from five extra vacation days and a 10-day stipend.
Several months before moving to Cumberland Crossings, our daughter Melissa accepted the position of marketing manager. To support her new role, I scheduled a tour, thinking it was the perfect time to do some research on retirement communities. At the same time, my husband developed a second serious heart issue (both, by the way, have since been resolved – whew!), one of which would require surgery. While he was waiting for the surgery, he was suffering from a serious case of cabin fever, so I invited him to join us.
On the day of the tour, we drove from Susquehanna Township and hopped onto Melissa’s golf cart to tour the senior living community – she showed us several types of cottages, explained the rates, described the amenities, etc. We fell in love with the campus and the cottages, and after researching other continuing care retirement communities, we kept coming back to Cumberland Crossings as our first choice. I tell everyone that we pushed the “fast forward button” on our lives! We downsized, and we never looked back.
Once we were settled, I accepted the role of Hospitality Coordinator on the Board of the Residents’ Association. For three years in that role, I took my marching orders from none other than Melissa, who I worked with as she brought prospective residents onto campus. When the prospects chose to join us for dinner, I would host them with other residents to answer any questions they may have to give them a current independent living resident’s perspective. Little did I know I’d be “working” for my daughter at this age!
Joenel Torrillo, NHA, MHA, BSN, RN, PT, CEEAA, executive director of Manatawny Manor in Pottstown, has an extra special interest in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. That is because his sister, Ma. Janelyn Fundal, Ph.D. of Iloilo Province, Philippines, is an umpire – commonly called referee – of the badminton tournament. Though Joenel doesn’t think his sister will “pass the torch” to him in the future to be an umpire, Joenel says he does “have a passion for badminton and has played competitive tournaments before.”
Joenel, commonly called Joe by residents and staff, has been an Executive Director/ Nursing Home Administrator of Manatawny Manor for the past 17 months, just two weeks before the COVID-19 shutdowns.
He shared a little bit about his sister’s experiences with us.
My sister, Ma. Janelyn Fundal, Ph.D. is the current sports director of Iloilo Province, Philippines.
It’s been a long process – 10 to 15 years – for her to gain all the accreditations and certifications needed to be a referee in the Olympics. She had to pass the written and practical examinations for both Badminton Asia Accreditation and Certification, and Badminton World Federation Accreditation and Certification.
Cayden Roth, 12, launched a fundraising campaign from mid-January to mid-February, netting $2,000 for Diakon Adoption & Foster Care and the Diakon Youth Scholarship fund.
Cayden was placed with his forever family, Lori and Stephen Roth, through Diakonat 13 months; his adoption was finalized in 2011.
“Cayden has a history of fundraising for our program and donating other supplies to our children in care,” says Joyce Riche, M.A., director of permanency services at Diakon Adoption & Foster Care’s Topton office.
In commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of his adoption finalization, Cayden had wanted to donate some of his own money to Diakon. He and his mother discussed the idea and decided that if he invested some of his own money, he could make enough to donate even more. So he used $250 to buy 25 signs. He sold all of them, for a total of $500, within a half-hour of his initial Facebook post. He then bought 100 more to sell. Cayden did most of the delivery and installation of the signs himself. The signs proclaimed: “You Are Loved – Happy Valentine’s Day!” and “Foster Love” with a pair of cupids.
Recently, Scott Habecker, Diakon president/CEO, hosted Cayden and his mother for a thank-you lunch. Below, Cayden recounts their discussion.
One of the good things Scott and I talked about was the importance of stewardship. When you’re in charge of collecting money to help someone else, you have to be mindful that most of the money collected goes to help who you want to help.
In Pennsylvania, there are more children and youths with special needs waiting to be adopted than children adopted through traditional programs. Yet the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a lot of support in place, from financial assistance to continuing advocacy and counseling to help make these adoptions not only feasible but also extremely rewarding.
AJ came into our home Dec. 14 of last year, so it wasn’t quite yet Christmas, but he was our most wonderful gift nonetheless.
In fact, he had claimed a place in our hearts even before he arrived in our home.
My husband, Alan, and I were open to fostering a child with mild needs. Our two oldest children have epilepsy and we have seen firsthand the importance of parent advocacy. However, we didn’t want to take on too much.
Then came AJ. He is a medically fragile child with cystic fibrosis who was born very prematurely and has a gastric tube.
AJ, 3, lived in the hospital until he came to live with us at our home in New Freedom, York County. It was heartbreaking.
Many people think of retirement as a time to truly live life.
You’ve spent years working, caring for children, potentially even caring for your grandchildren and spending your time serving the community. When it comes time to retire, many older adults often want to take some time to do what they love, explore passions and focus on everything they’ve been wanting to do for years.
At an independent living community such as those Diakon offers, we understand this fact, so we provide opportunities and amenities to enable residents to have the freedom to do as they please, every day.
Focus on hobbies and passions—because of the freedom you’ll have!
Our independent living lifestyle allows residents to be as busy, as relaxed and as adventurous as they wish. Click here for just a few of the ways we ensure our residents have more time to focus on their interests and hobbies.
