Category: Foster Care
Sunrise Children’s Services has recently celebrated three high school graduates in its independent living program. One graduated in the Cumberland region, another in the Owensboro area. A third graduate, named Austin Burns, recently graduated from McCracken County High School.
Austin transitioned into Sunrise independent living in Paducah from a Sunrise foster home, also in the Paducah region. He completed his high school credits in December 2022, and officially graduated and walked in May 2023.
“Austin is currently working full time at FiveStar gas station, has transitioned well into the independent living program, and is in the process of enrolling in West Kentucky Community and Technical College for the fall 2023 semester,” said Sunrise Independent Living Specialist Misty Reynolds. “Austin is not 100% sure of course of study, but he is leaning toward something in the mechanical field, thus planning to attend the technical program in hopes to obtain a certificate of training and job placement within the next year.”
Reynolds also shared that Austin was first in his immediate biological family to graduate from high school and will be the first to attend college.
Austin and the other two graduates are just a few examples of many success stories in Sunrise’s independent living program. Through this program, Sunrise helps 18-to-20-year-olds find housing, jobs, and education by surrounding them with a care plan team that includes a Christian mentor.
To find out more about Sunrise’s independent living program, visit https://www.sunrise.org/venture-on/
It all began with a conversation between Reuben Watson, regional advancement director at Sunrise Children’s Services, and Jeremy Teall, director and owner of Paul Mitchell The School in Lexington and Louisville. The two started talking a year ago about what it would be like for their organizations to form a partnership and together help serve the children of Sunrise by providing free haircuts and styles. By the time their conversation ended, Teall and Watson decided that they should help not just Sunrise kids, but any child from any foster care organization in the state of Kentucky. And that is how the WayMaker Project was formed.
A year later, more than 200 kids have been served in the Lexington and Louisville communities through the partnership of Sunrise Children’s Services and Paul Mitchell the School. Organizations which include Kentucky United Methodist, All God’s Children, Home of the Innocents, Boys and Girls Haven, St. Josephs Children’s Home, Strengthening Transformations, LEX Project Prom, and others have all benefited from this program.
“The WayMaker Project has given our kiddos at St. Joseph Children’s Home the opportunity to be pampered while improving their self-worth,” stated Mary Horton, residential supervisor at St. Joseph’s Children’s Home in Louisville. “The stylists are so personable and patient with our kiddos as well!”
“This is how it works: An agency will request tickets and a Sunrise care worker will deliver the tickets to the requesting agency,” explained Watson. “We are all in this together.”
Earlier this year, a foster parent from All God’s Children (AGC) was extremely grateful to hear about the WayMaker Project. “Having one child to get school-ready as a single mom is a challenge. Imagine having four!” she said. “A week before school started, a sibling set of three joined my family. When I received an email from AGC that we could get hair cut vouchers, I responded immediately. Making the appointment through Paul Mitchell’s website was super easy. The ladies who cut my boys’ hair took their time and made sure the boys walked away with smiles on their faces. Thank you AGC for taking care of my kiddos!”
Strengthening Transformations, Inc. has partnered with Paul Mitchell over the past five years with events such as the Father/Daughter dance held at the Woodford County Detention Center where they provided hair, makeup, and manicures for the daughters; and the Friendship Fest in 2019. “We were so ecstatic that stylists from the Paul Mitchell School gave of their time to do free quick styles for the girls in attendance at Friendship Fest and last year provided us with vouchers for free haircuts,” said a representative from Strengthening Transformations. “Through their partnership with our organization, we have been able to make young girls recognize their beauty both inside and out.”
The Paul Mitchell organization believes a haircut can be the catalyst for children to understand how special they truly are. “It has been an honor and pleasure for Paul Mitchell The School to partner with Sunrise Children’s Services. Fundraising and supporting the local community has been the foundation and cornerstone of Paul Mitchell Schools since their inception,” said Teall. “Partnering with Sunrise Children’s Services has given Paul Mitchell The School the opportunity to reach the most needed, and in many cases most well-deserving people, in our community. It always has been and will continue to be the mission of Paul Mitchell The School to serve our local community, and the creation of the WayMaker Project will continue to help us achieve that mission. Thank you to the many people at Sunrise who have aided us in our mission to serve.”
LEX Project Prom is another agency who has benefitted from Paul Mitchell The School and the WayMaker Project. “LEX Project Prom is a non-profit organization that serves under-resourced students to attend their senior prom with no financial obligation. With partners like Paul Mitchell, our students are able to complete their full Prom look,” stated Asona McMullen, executive director at LEX Project Prom. The staff (at paul Mitchell The School) is always welcoming and attentive to our students’ needs. Without them, we would not be able to provide a full service for our attending students. They have been a joy to work with, and we are honored to have them support our mission and work alongside us.”
And of course, the kids at Sunrise Children’s Services have also benefitted from the WayMaker Project. Last month, 15 girls who live at Sunrise’s Glen Dale Center in Elizabethtown were given free haircuts and styles by Paul Mitchell the Louisville School. The night did not end there. Paul Mitchell The School purchased pizza and had a pizza party for the Sunrise kids while investing in the young ladies’ lives. “The Sunrise girls felt so good about their new looks and themselves. They couldn’t stop smiling, which is sadly rare for some of these girls,” said Jake Pelfrey, development director at Sunrise. “Paul Mitchell The School is the type of entity that understands that it takes a village to care for these kids.”
At Sunrise we often celebrate success stories in our foster families, including adoptions. But we realize that many children have a goal of reunification with their birth families. And so do many parents.
For Arnisha Shegog, parent of four children, that goal was realized. On November 4, 2021, Shegog was reunited with all four of her children. This was actually after the second time her children were placed in the foster care system.
The first time her kids entered foster care occurred when one of her children was abused by a family member. At that time, Shegog was a single mother, just coming home from the hospital with her fourth child. “I needed to seek mental help because I was unable to help my kids and be a proactive mother,” said Shegog. “I didn’t have family to turn to . . . so I leaned a shoulder on foster care . . . . Foster care took my kids in and did the best that they could. So that was the first round.”
The second time occurred when she was married. Less than two weeks after her marriage ceremony, one of Shegog’s daughters shared with an adult at school that she felt unsafe at home. “I was the victim of domestic violence,” stated Shegog. “My kids had to go back to foster care.”
During this incredibly difficult time, Shegog turned to her faith. “I needed to really speak to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as my higher power,” she said. “And I was like, ‘God, help me get out of this situation. I’m stuck. I have my kids in foster care. I’m married. What do I need to do?’”
Shegog quickly realized that she too had to remove herself from an unsafe environment. “I had to seek divorce, and I had to seek ways of helping my kids get out of a situation of foster care,” she stated. She also sought help for herself: getting domestic violence counseling, dealing with past trauma, and taking care of her mental health.
In the middle of all this, she heard God’s voice clearer than ever. “God was like, ‘Dig deeper. I need you to come closer to me,’” she recalled. And when she did, she knew exactly what to do: start a non-profit organization to break the silence of women caught in domestic violence. “So, I started a non-profit, the Arnisha Shegog Mentorship Program, which cares for basically anyone that wants to have a voice (or who is needing help),” said Shegog. The program officially began on July 26, 2021.
While her children were in foster care the second time, Shegog focused on getting herself back to a better place mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. “I basically gave my kids back to Christ because I knew what I’ve done to put them in that unpredictable circumstance; now I needed to work on myself,” she said. “So, I gave my kids back to God. And I said, ‘God, I’ve done all the assessments that the court wanted me to do, I’m visiting them on time, I’m making sure I’m being a good correspondent to whatever they need.’ As much as I can do, I did; then it was time for me to work on myself. So, that’s what I’ve done. And November 4, that’s when I got my kids back.”
Shegog was joyful and appreciative to receive her children back in her home. She is also very appreciative of the care that her children received in the foster care system. Her oldest girl was fostered by a family at the girl’s elementary school, and her two boys were fostered by the owner of the daycare center they attended.
Her youngest daughter, who was living in multiple foster homes, was eventually placed in a Sunrise foster family. “Sunrise has my absolute approval!” exclaimed Shegog. “You can sleep at night with so much ease. Beautiful organization and beautiful people.”
Stacy and John Tyler White were the Sunrise foster parents who fostered Shegog’s youngest girl. Both are on staff at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Hopkinsville. John Tyler is the worship and missions pastor, and Stacy is the outreach and assimilation director. “John Tyler is exceptional. Stacy is beautiful inside and out. Their whole family is beautiful,” said Shegog. “They understand the inside and out of raising kids within foster care. Sunrise is a Christian-faith-based organization, so I felt good knowing that my daughter was loved under God.”
It has been quite a journey for Shegog, and she now finds herself and her family at a good place. “It may be chaotic when I go to Walmart with two buggies, because one’s for groceries and one’s for household items, but that’s my peace. At the end of the day, my kids are happy,” she stated. “I had to realize that I’d rather have those two Walmart buggies, being at peace and at joy with my kids at the end of the day, than being in a chaotic marriage.”
Through it all, Shegog is thankful for God’s presence every step of the way. “God brought me out of my deepest, darkest place. I really see what God is doing in my life. My purpose is to speak life and to bring awareness,” she said. “If my kids weren’t (placed into foster care), I wouldn’t have found my joy of being a mentor for other people.”
As a mentor, she has lots to say to people who are going through experiences that she has already walked through. “You think that child services, or CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), or the Department of Children and Family Services are against you; but they’re just holding up a red banner saying, ‘You need help.’ Use that red banner to go and seek help,” she stated passionately. “And don’t be ashamed if you have mental illness. You’re still a good person just like anybody else.”
And she has a special message for single mothers: “For the single mothers out there with one kid up to multiple kids like me, if I can do it with four kids, you can do it with one or two. God bless!”
And may God bless you, Arnisha, as you continue to pour your life and love into your family and into the lives of others. You are truly a blessing to many.
Autumn Todd knows all about Sunrise Children’s Services back when it was Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children. She experienced the program firsthand as a foster child living in about six or seven different Sunrise foster homes, in our former Dixon Center (on two separate occasions), and in our former Genesis Home (in Mayfield). “I spent probably over half my childhood in (Sunrise) placement,” Autumn said.
Autumn appreciates the help she received from Sunrise. “I would say that getting placement in Sunrise Children’s Services really helped me learn coping skills to control a lot of anger issues and to understand how my childhood abuse and trauma had affected me,” she said. “It gave me those coping skills to emerge from (the trauma) and move forward as an adult.”
But it wasn’t always easy. “Honestly, one of the hardest times for me was going through group homes, not having a family, and then constantly seeing people go in and out, in and out, in and out,” she stated. “It was really rough.”
Fortunately, Autumn always felt the love and support from the Sunrise staff. “I really feel like, growing up in Sunrise placement, whenever I came to a new home, or I came to a group home, they did not judge me. They just wanted to care for me. They wanted to give me a safe place and somewhere to start new, somewhere to learn new things,” she said. “And I feel like they gave me the ‘love your neighbor’ essence . . . through all those actions and through the lack of (judging), just making me feel that I belong and giving me those coping skills, and giving me the treatment and the care that I needed.”
Today, Autumn is married to her husband, Travis, and has two daughters: Beatrice, who is 10 years old, and Luna, who is five. Autumn and Travis also own a cell phone repair business together called IBuyCell&Fix, in Princeton. Now as an adult, it seemed like the right time for Autumn to give back to Sunrise. “We were finally in a position to do something for the children that were in the situation I grew up in,” she stated. And that’s exactly what they did.
At the end of 2021, they began a collection drive at their business to bring in personal hygiene items for the girls and boys currently living in Sunrise’s residential centers. They ended up collecting enough items for the kids as well as for victims of the tornado that hit the community, and for adults living in a local adult group home called Highland Homes. “(Our business) is in a very small shop, and the whole lobby was filled,” shared Autumn. “It was really crazy the community support we got from this.”
With the hygiene items, it was important for Autumn that the Sunrise kids each received a two-month supply. “The reason we chose hygiene items is because growing up in the group homes and the foster homes, I was only allotted $10 a month,” she explained. “The children in state custody today are still only allotted $10 a month! I just remember all the times when things went missing or somebody would steal my stuff because they couldn’t afford stuff of their own. It was just the worst feeling . . . . So, that’s why we chose (to do this).”
This year, she plans to go even bigger, collecting more of the same items they did last year, and adding clothing. Autumn is hoping to get a list of each child’s sizes prior to the drive. She’s also planning to collect even more items for Highland Homes. “We’re going to start it much earlier,” she said. “We’re probably going to start it a month-and-a-half before Christmas, and we’re going to pay for some advertising for it.”
Eventually, in the years to come, she wants to provide for the Sunrise residential kids what was provided for her when she was in residential care: a pancake breakfast. “We want to rent the town hall or go to the group itself and do a pancake breakfast and bring Santa and all the kids’ presents,” Autumn said. “It was just one of the coolest things that happened to me whenever it was the holiday time.”
Most of all, she wants to give to the girls and boys of Sunrise a sense of belonging. “I want to have a meal with them and give them a sense of family,” she shared. “I was one of the few kids in the group home who didn’t have family. A lot of the girls had someone that would come pick them up for home visits. I didn’t at all. And I would sit there on Christmas, with a staff member, by myself; and the best thing I got to do was pick the movie. It was so sad, honestly. And I just hate that.”
This has led Autumn to consider a more permanent way to help replace sadness with happiness in the life of current foster kids. “We are looking into fostering,” she shared. She has recently been talking with her former Sunrise therapist, Angie, about fostering in the near future. Autumn and Travis are purchasing their first home and are already making plans to renovate and add more bedrooms. “Whenever we get (the renovation) done, we (want to) start fostering,” said Autumn.
As a former foster kid herself, Autumn has a unique understanding of what current foster children are experiencing. She wants them to know that even though they have a different way of thinking because of their upbringing, everything will be okay. Her personal word to current foster children is this: “You have to focus on your mental health; focus on breaking generational curses and identifying your triggers. And learn that even though you grew up in this situation – in state custody or in foster homes or in group homes – it doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful, because you definitely can. You just have to want it. And you have to want to break those generational curses.”
It appears that Autumn is well on her way to breaking the generational curses in her own life, and is now doing what she can to instill that drive in others, particularly in those who have been on a similar journey. Thank you, Autumn, for showing us what a former foster kid can become, and what a remarkable future foster parent might look like!
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Dear Devan . . .
The following letter is from Ashley Wyatt, a Sunrise foster parent. She gave the letter to her son on the day of his adoption.
Dear Devan,
You have been my family since the moment I met you in the River Valley waiting area. You were our first call; I was hesitant at first, I won’t lie, but my gut told me you needed me and I needed you. You coming to live with us has been one of the greatest adventures of my life. We had some rough times in the beginning, that’s no doubt. There has been happiness, stress, tears, a lot of firsts. But it didn’t take me long to know that you were meant to be my son and I was meant to be your mom. Sometimes I feel like God made you for us from the very beginning. Heck, you even look like us. I don’t know why our journey to get to each other was filled with such heartache. I’ll never understand why you had to go through so much pain; if I could take it from you I would. But even if I don’t understand, I’m thankful to have what we have now. As one of my favorite songs says, “It’s not where you come from, it’s where you belong.” There is no doubt in my mind that you belong here. We have loved you for 997 days now; I’ve waited for this moment to make you officially my son for what feels like a lifetime and I’m so incredibly happy to be able to do so today! You’re such a sweet boy. You love us, you love people and care about others, you’re funny and smart, your laugh lights up my world, I love the goofy things you say and do. You are the best big brother; you are protective of your family. You are one of the strongest people I know. People tell me we changed your life, but really you changed ours! You made me a mom. My first baby, my son.
So today on your adoption day, I will promise you a few things. I promise to always love you, no matter what you do. I promise to never give up on you. I promise to always keep you safe. I promise to support your dreams, even if they aren’t what I think you should do. I promise to love you even when you make bad decisions or do something crazy, because I feel like we are going to have some of those moments. I just want you to know that no matter what the future holds, Momma is going to be right beside you.
I will forever be thankful that you were given to us. I love you infinity baby.
Love, Momma 💙
Sunrise Parents Welcome Two More to their Family
Jeff and Kathleen Grams are the proud parents of Harriet and Tobias Grams. Their adoption occurred on October 5th, 2021 in Hart County. Jeff and Kathleen are Sunrise foster parents with the Bowling Green foster care office.
In the picture above, Jeff and Kathleen are on the far left, with Tobias and Harriet on the far right.
After completing her second year of Sunrise’s independent living program and continuing her education at Bluegrass Community & Technical College (BCTC) – Danville Campus, Sara* has completed three housing applications for programs to assist with living upon her transition from independent living later this year. She has developed an online crafting business to aid in her income throughout the pandemic when she was working reduced hours at her place of employment.
Sara has actively participated in Kentucky’s Health Access Nurturing Developing Services, also known as HANDS, and Haven Care Pregnancy Resource Center since giving birth in 2019. She plans on continuing her education at BCTC in the summer of 2021 and graduating with an Associate’s degree. Sara successfully navigates being a first-time mom to a healthy 18-month-old girl, while going to school and working as a young mother.
Sara is on her own path to success after overcoming obstacles during her first years of independent living and previous years in foster care.
*Name has been changed to protect the identity of individual.
At the age of five, Madison* and her three sisters were living with a mother who deeply loved them, but was not able, because of her own drug and mental health issues, to take care of the children.
So social services stepped in and removed all four children, placing them in foster care. After Madison had turned six years old, she was placed back with her mother, along with her sisters. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the movement from home to home.
When Madison was 10 years old, she was placed in a loving Sunrise foster home for a time due to the poor living conditions in her mother’s home, coupled with Madison’s continued deterioration of performance and behavior in school. Back and forth she moved from foster care, to mom, to foster care – but now it was with the same Sunrise home each time.
Even when Madison went home, her foster parents befriended her mother, helping to buy clothes and shoes and food. But by the time Madison was 12, she came to live with her foster parents and would never go home to live with her mother again.
Four years later, Madison is approaching her 16th birthday. Her foster parents have recently become her adopted parents, and Madison is doing better than ever. Her grades have improved at school. Her behavior is also improving at home and school with each passing month, and Madison is in the process of expanding her skill set by getting a job in her local community.
While Madison misses her mother and sisters, she is very grateful that her new parents have loved her unconditionally for the last six years, and will be her forever family for the rest of her life. Madison is truly blessed, and so are her parents! Another Sunrise adoption. Another life changed!
*Name has been changed to protect the identity of individual.
