Charterhouse School Student Shares His Voice

Charterhouse School Student Shares His Voice

WHEN HE WAS IN FIRST GRADE, Alex’s principal would send him to a converted storage closet called the crisis room—a lot. Alex would get 30 minutes in the crisis room for standing on a chair in class. Tearing papers in class warranted hours in the crisis room. School...
Building Bridges Out of Poverty

Building Bridges Out of Poverty

Download full newsletter BRENDA MOSS WORKED ALL her life in Lynchburg, Virginia to support her three sons and one grandson. Over the years she worked as a nursing and medical assistant, a sales person for a large retailer, a factory worker and a line worker at a paper...
A Champion for LGBT Youth

A Champion for LGBT Youth

IMAGINE FOR A MINUTE that you’re a teenager. Imagine not being able to sleep at night because you’re terrified of going to school the next day where you know you’ll be bullied—again. Amidst the repeated bullying from your peers, you’re expected to focus on learning...
Becoming a champion for LIFE

Becoming a champion for LIFE

SOPHIA BOOKER HEARD about Project LIFE for the first time in 2010 when a friend invited her to a youth advisory council meeting where teens in foster care discuss shared challenges and ways to improve the system. “I just wanted to hang out with one of my friends...
Above and far beyond

Above and far beyond

AS AN ADOPTION SPECIALIST with UMFS’ Adoptive Family Preservation program, Michael Staton’s job is to help adoptive families weather crises in their lives. But Michael sees it a little differently. To him, his job is to empower families to make their own decisions —...
Bringing Out the Best in Kids…and UMFS

Bringing Out the Best in Kids…and UMFS

On the eve of his retirement, UMFS honors the man who leaves a long legacy of introducing new concepts to the agency, inspired by his free-spirited personality and passion for helping kids be the best they can be. Joining THE RANKS OF Muhammad Ali, Janet Reno and...