Massachusetts children in foster care have a friend at “The Home”
Since 1799, children and families in Massachusetts have found help from various children’s agencies that now form The Home for Little Wanderers, also known as “The Home”.
The Home offers a range of services and programs as a result of the merging over the last decade of four major organizations: Boston Children’s Services, The New England Home for Little Wanderers, Parents’ and Children’s Services, and Charles River Health Management.
One success story from The Home involves Scott and Joey Ullrich. They initially met when Scott mentored Joey as part of the Big Brother program. Previous to his adoption, Joey – now age 13 – spent two years in foster care and three years in residential care at The Italian Home in Jamaica Plain. Scott is business manager at UU World – the magazine of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
According to The Home‘s web site, “Joey has come a long way in the last three years and is much happier for it. Scott takes Joey to soccer practice every Saturday, he’s introduced him to skiing, which he loves and he’s also developed a passion for baseball and basketball. Joey is popular with his peers, but because of the neglect he went through as a young child, he does have his struggles. He is diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and learning disabilities and attends special education classes at his middle school.”
The Adoption Program at The Home for Little Wanderers is dedicated to providing permanent homes for children and offers adoption services to prospective parents. The program offers couples and single persons of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic backgrounds and religions many options for starting or adding to their families.
