Therapeutic Foster Care:

Dear Community Member:

Imagine, if you will, the emotional trauma of a girl who has been sexually abused by her father for all of her young life. Imagine the physical scars of a child who, alone and unsupervised, doused himself with gasoline and set himself afire. Picture the helplessness of a diabetic child with an I.Q. of 10 who was found living in his own waste. Consider the uncertainty of the siblings who never know in what condition their mother will come home – if she comes home at all.

What future can you conceive for these wounded children for whom a normal childhood was denied? If you imagine that they are hurt, angry and distrustful, you are catching a glimpse of the children who are served by Lifeway For Youth’s therapeutic foster care programs. These youth require intensive guidance and attention, loving substitute homes and a circle of supportive programs to address the severity of their behaviors and to allow them to begin to regain trust and hope for a healthy future.

Lifeway For Youth, Inc. is a private, non-profit agency providing therapeutic alternative care and programs for at-risk youth. Since our beginning in 1994, Lifeway has grown to provide care for troubled youth through our offices in Ohio and Indiana. Lifeway is proactively addressing the issues of generational abuse and neglect in our communities and works in harmony with local public agencies to resolve these issues.

The tremendous hurt, the resulting behaviors and the great need displayed by youth in therapeutic foster care are staggering. Lifeway looks at the needs of the whole child – the need to experience success in school, the need for self-expression, the need for specialized counseling, the need for positive recreation and the need to acquire social, vocational and independent living skills as well as the need for stable, caring alternative homes. Lifeway continues to evolve and grow as we structure projects and programs to help meet the needs of each child.

These children need the support of our community as they struggle to find their strengths and determine how they want to approach life. Call Lifeway For Youth to see how you can join us in helping them restructure their lives and reach for a better future.

Sincerely,

Michael Berner

Executive Director