Organizational Documents

Patty studied accounting and education at Boise State. She moved o Eugene, OR with her Husband and young daughter in 1993. They raised three daughters in Eugene and owned and operated a small business for over 23 years. Patty also spent much of her time volunteering in the neighborhood schools and for youth organizations. She also mentored middle school students. She volunteered with the Lancer Pageant for 4 years which is a school program that partners and supports Children’s Miracle Network. Patty has been a supporter of “A Family For Every Child” for many years and joined the Board in 2019. She is passionate about supporting youth and providing positive influences. She loves to spend time with family and friends.

Joan Obie

Board Vice President
2014

I moved to Oregon from Montana in 1986 , prior to that, I owned a fine china and gift shop. I did bookkeeping for many of my father’s businesses and did research for a local law firm.

I have always felt a passion for children and have four of my own. Through the years we have hosted more than 30 kids from France and Spain and taken in many children who were in bad situations ranging from homeless kids to adult kids that just needed help getting on their feet. I have volunteered in different aspects, all of which dealt with kids.

I served on the Board of director’s with Direction Service prior to joining the Board with AFFEC. I spent six years volunteering with First Place Family Center where I recruited sponsors to proviide Christmas for the families being served by First Place. I always feel that we may not be able to change adults but we can impact children’s lives for the better.

I really enjoy working with AFFEC because thiis organization does so much to make lives better for those who we serve.

I have great respect and admiration for Christy and the organization she founded.

Delores Mord

Treasurer
2007

Grew up in Montana, where Delores and spouse operated their own large Dairy Farm. Along with working with the welfare system in foster care where Delores created a soft spot in understanding the neesd of children in the system

Delores and faily moved to Oregon continuing in foster care and to venture into the family business of Advertising. This lead to many other added business Manufacturing, Radio, and Property Development in Private companies and a Public Company

She worked in all departments of the business bookkeeper, scheduling, office manager, tax preparations and Chief Financial Officer of the multiple organizations of the business in several states.

Education: Correspondent courses, Lane Community College, ongoing courses throughout the years and working with CPA’s.

Delores has been involved with A FAMILY FOR EVERY CHILD since inception. Has done some mentoring and has passion for working with the organization in making a difference for our children and families.

Has acted as Bookkeeper in all aspects along with preparing the 990’s and government documents, Insurance and Payroll reports.

Jessica Pelatt

Board Member
Secretary
2012

Long time Mentor, Volunteer Photographer and Volunteer Venue coordinator, all around AFFEC supporter. Working with children has always been a large part of Jessica’s life from helping with her little brother, babysitting and volunteering to work with children from a young age. At sixteen she even raised money to work with children at an orphanage in Azerbaijan, which ended up being a life changing experience for Jessica. Now with a degree in English and a masters in Education, she has worked as a teacher. Jessica now dedicates her time to many volunteer roles, many of which A Family For Every child are very grateful to have her a part of. Her role as a long time Mentor, to her mentee Lizzie, has made all the difference in Lizzie’s success after Foster care. Lizzie now lives with Jessica and her husband. Jessica loves photography, reading, singing, crafting and many other hobbies. She also loves learning new skills. Jessica is committed to assisting AFFEC in many ways, and we at AFFEC feel honored to have her on our team.

Cicely Coleman

Board Member
2018

A Family for Every Child has had a special place in Cicely’s heart for some time now. She originally started as a volunteer in 2006, and then several years later, Cicely and her husband adopted their daughter through A Family for Every Child in 2013. On a personal note, she is a mom, wife, aunt, and passionate advocate and mentor for vulnerable and underserved populations in our community. Professionally Cicely is a dedicated leader, advisor, and consultant with demonstrated experience in Healthcare, Insurance, and Information Technology. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Oregon and certificates in Management & Leadership and Strategy & Innovation from MIT.

Scott Cottrell

Board Member
2021

I moved to Eugene from Germany in 1979 to attend the University of Oregon. I have work experience in local and federal law enforcement, teaching at the Police Academy, security services, and operating room devices and own a handful of patents. I own a medical company focusing on the operating room and security locking hardware company where we make patented devices. My volunteer experience includes CASA for 12 years, the Lane County Sheriff’s Board, Food for Lane County, FEMA, and a number of positions at my church.

I have been married for 25 years and have an adopted daughter from China who is a junior at the University of Oregon. My 83 lb. Golden Retriever and 60,000 honey bees keep me busy on the weekends.

I look forward to being a board member for A Family for Every Child.

Associate Board of Directors

The mission of the Associate Board is to promote awareness of a Family for Every Child’s mission in the communities it serves, to organize philanthropic initiatives and to provide volunteer service. As ambassadors of AFFEC, the Associate Board has the opportunity to participate in many different ways, including fundraising, public relations, outreach and recruiting of new members.

We continue to build our membership in the Associate Board. We meet quarterly as a group, and each members meets with the Executive Director and staff regularly.

Thomas Ball

Associate Board Member
2021

Thomas Ball is currently a Portfolio Manager for Summit Bank in Eugene. Growing up in San Jose, California, Thomas gravitated toward jobs and organizations that provided skills/aid to foster and at-risk youth. Thomas began his working career as a bookkeeper/HR coordinator for Teenforce (now Pivotal), a Silicon Valley non-profit that provides job skills and professionalism training to foster/at-risk youth before placing them in a paid position with one of their partnered businesses. After moving to Eugene to attend the University of Oregon, Thomas graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. Outside of his work with AFFEC, Thomas is a member of the Eugene Active 20-30 Club, which provides volunteering and fundraising to improve the quality of life for the special needs of the children in the local community.

Employees

MEGAN ANDERSON

Operations Director

Contact Megan

ColIN GRAY

Fiscal Director

Contact Colin

HEATHER CALLAHAN

Development Director

Contact Heather

DEBBIE LIRA

Community Engagement Associate Director

Contact Debbie

BRITTANY BUCHOLZ

Social Services Supervisor

Contact Brittany

LIZ HADLEY

Human Resources Coordinator

Contact Liz

DINA BADOLATO

Adoption Worker

Contact Dina

HEATHER RASKIN

Adoption Worker

Contact Heather

ELYSE HOOTS

Adoption Worker

Contact Elyse

Gina Piechowicz

Host Home Program Manager

Contact Gina

MATTIAS SMITH

Youth Case Manager

Contact Mattias

GRACE OURO

NEXT Program Manager

Contact Grace

Jalyssa Socorro Escobedo

Family Matching Specialist

Contact Jalyssa

KELLI SMITH

Development Coordinator

Contact Kelli

MARI HANSEN

Executive Assistant

Contact Mari

Home

Programs

Heart Gallery

The Heart Gallery is a tool used to engage and educate the community on the plight and potential of children living in foster care. We do this by displaying professional Heart Gallery images and simple biographies of waiting children in local venues. We have over 50 business, corporate and faith-based partners and venues. Professional photographers volunteer their services to provide the images and video for children all over the country. We have seen over 700 children pass through our Heart Gallery on to their forever families.

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Our web site

We use our web site to work with the Heart Galleries and in conjunction with caseworkers to provide and facilitate professional images and information about foster children. Web Site It is also a significant stand-alone recruitment tool with private and public listing options. We have spent continued effort, resources and manpower (with a fulltime web employee) on continuously updating our web site. We went from recruiting for 250 children on our public web site to over 2,000 on both our private and public web sites.

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Matching Events

In 2012 we began our on-line matching events to feature children available for adoption. We feature up to ten children, while as many as Matching Events 50 families can log on and hear a caseworker talk about the child and the kind of family needed. The families can text questions and immediately submit their home studies. We have also begun featuring families and having the children’s caseworkers attend. These events have proven so successful we are usually doing one per week, and we are booked three months in advance.

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Matching Assistance

The program is designed to help adoptive families cope with the often frustrating and seemingly complicated, convoluted adoption process. The concept is to have a person on our staff and a log-on Matching Assistance Program web site exclusively for these families. We have found prospective adoptive parents to have more successful outcomes if they are able to be their own advocates as well as being educated and supported along the way.

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Targeted Outreach

A worker can contact us from any state, requesting exactly the type of family a child may need. Often these are urgent move needed requests. Using the information provided, we search our database create a mass email list of up to 500 parents. We design a targeted outreach communiqué about this child, complete with a photo and biography, and then we send it out. We often have 10-12 home-study-approved families in a few hours.

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Adoption Agency

Our Agency writes home studies, approves and matches families in Oregon with children all over the country. We know we play an important role in bridging the gap between really wonderful families and equally wonderful children. It is our mission to find forever families for those children considered hardest to place, and this program is designed to hasten the adoption process as well as make it more affordable for families.

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Mentor Program

Mentor activities focus on building foster children’s confidence and providing a stable, consistent, friendly presence in their often turbulent lives. This relationship helps foster children to develop common life-skills that will enable them to cope with their lives and build confidence. Mentors aid children in their search for permanent families and provide continued support if they eventually “age out” of the foster care system. We plan to constantly increase the number of mentors. 25% of our Mentor Program matches result in becoming permanent placements. Many of the children we serve do not have an adult they feel safe with. Mentors can change a life with just a little effort.

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Life Books

All children leaving foster care are provided with Life Books, which are created especially for them in order to preserve their past. Life Books represent a form of continuity and stability to foster children who are likely to see little positive continuity or stability. A Life Book records a foster/adoptee’s life that uses words, photos, graphics, the child’s artwork, and memorabilia. A Life Book includes information about the child’s birth parents and reason for separation. It always starts at the child’s birth and often includes the fun part of when the adopted child joined a family.

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Program Partnerships

Replication of our programs and services to leverage and magnify their impact by reproducing our model in an array of independent agencies and partners throughout the country. We offer two unique and most in-demand elements to our programs. One is our use of volunteers, which includes information about how they are best utilized. The other is our use of technology, which includes our extensive collection of child and social worker information, our web sites, our marketing & targeted outreach, our Matching Assistance Program, and our use of social media.

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Volunteer Program

900 strong, it is the basis of all we do. It is often said that foster care is a community crisis demanding a community solution. It is only through committed individuals, who literally fill every role we have, that we can make a difference in the lives of a large number of foster children. We have a dedicated, streamlined volunteer process that checks references, conducts background checks (when needed), recruits, trains, assigns and retains our dedicated volunteers. There is always an ongoing need for help from helpful and loving volunteers

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