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New Grandparent Units to be completed in 2009
Lia Rowley, Executive Director, one of five to be awarded the National Jefferson Award on June 17, 2008. Full story on CBS5.com Lia Rowley, founder and executive director of The Children's Village of Sonoma County, received a prestigious national Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award, of the Jefferson Awards for Outstanding Public Service to a Local Community at a ceremony in Washington D.C. on June 17, 2008. Lia was one of five winners from a national pool of seventy semi-finalists who were chosen to come to Washington D.C. for a special Gala and Award Ceremony. The Jefferson Awards are considered the “Nobel Prize” for public and community service. The Jefferson Awards were founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sen. Robert Taft, Jr., and presidential advisor Sam Beard. The awards were established to encourage and honor individuals for their achievements and contributions through public and community service. Both local and national awards are presented yearly. See full story on CBS5.com News: http://cbs5.com/jeffersonawards/Jefferson.National.Rowley.2.756983.html NEWSLETTER Archive
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From Grandpa Hank Lia Rowley, founder of The Children’s Village, has said, “The most effective way to de-institutionalize a foster care facility is to import a few grandparents.” That’s why, from the very start, our village built for kids came with a live-in grandpa and two grandmas attached.As volunteer resident grandparents, our job description is deceptively simple. For these children we are purveyors of unconditional love. If half of life is just about “showing up,” that’s our role. We are there for the kids, neither judging them nor criticizing their shortcomings, just showing up. Grandma Jane is a nurse, who shows up by taking the kids to medical and dental appointments and yes, in the case of the younger kids, kissing their “owies” to make them better. Grandma Judy, a former teacher, shows up by checking their homework and keeping in touch with the public schools they attend. The kids help her grow healthy veggies in our garden, too. Grandpa Hank signs the kids up for soccer, football and other outside activities. He has also been known to spoil them with ice cream and cookies. Together with his loveable basset hound, Penny, he shows up by being the “soccer grandpa,” chauffeuring the kids to their games. What’s in it for us grandparents? Hey, most of the time we feel like “youngins” again, thriving on the energy and spontaneity of our village kids. And, just about the time when the years are catching up with us, when we feel plumb worn-out after a day with the kids, one of the little guys will give us a hug or just say “Thanks, Grandma” or “Thanks, Grandpa” and we know it’s all worth while. |
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