Jointly nominated for Foster Family of the Year, Nikki and Chris have been fostering for seven years, and Nikki is a well-respected mentor in the Calgary and District Foster Parents Association Mentor Program. Their fostering journey began 10 years ago when they welcomed a kinship placement into our home. Nikki goes on to explain, “The kinship process (which led to adoption) helped us realize that our family had more love to give so we eventually [...]
Each story behind a kinship family is unique, and for Stephen and Leana Kratko and their daughters, their family’s story is no exception. Their journey began when their family was volunteering with an organization for a number of years, which is how they met the two girls and their Mom. They became friends and tried to find ways to love on the family and help when they could. When Mom began to have some trouble [...]
For many of our foster families, Doris Borja Hurtado needs no introduction. Placement Unit Coordinator in Calgary Region, she takes the lead for foster care referrals and placements. In her role, she really is the first step toward having any child in the Calgary Region enter into a potential foster home. As explained by her nominator, “Doris puts an immense amount of work into learning as much as she can about a child or youths [...]
Jannay Douville-Lucas, this year’s Support Worker of the Year, was nominated by a brand-new foster parent, which really highlights her passion and commitment to her role. Described with a long list of words: supportive, encouraging, guiding, responsive, generous, listener, coordinator, responsive, Jannay appreciates being honored in this way, but her biggest highlight in her career so far has the relationships she has built with so many of the families she has worked with. She shares [...]
Our Mentor Recognition Award recipient for 2021 received three strong nominations, two from recent mentee’s and one from her caseworker. She is a very worthy recipient for the Mentor Recognition Award for 2021. Christina Hernandez has been a foster parent for 10 years and a Mentor for 4 years, supporting 15 new foster and kinship families. Somehow, she also finds time to be active with both the Calgary Foster Parents Association as a Director and [...]
This year, our Mentor Recognition Award Recipient was nominated by two of her mentees. A commendable accomplishment!
When Children’s Services Worker Jennifer Hrstic was first told she was Calgary Region’s Worker of the Year, she was humbled by it, saying, “It’s lovely to know that what you’ve been a part of has helped them too.”
Fifteen years ago, Sue and Dale McPherson took the suggestion of those around them and became Foster Parents. Little did they know that they would be Calgary Region’s Foster Family of the Year in 2020.
Laurie Fitzherbert and Peter Rennie have been caring for Laurie’s two nieces for the last eighteen months. The girls have come a long way since first coming to stay with their Aunt and Uncle
Verna is consistently readily available, grounded in her advice and able to see her mentees perspective in an objective, articulate and an emotionally supportive way. She and Kevin have been foster parents for 19 years, cared for 33 children, a grandma to 7 children and many more call her mother and friend. She is a long time CAST Representative and Foster Parent Trainer. Verna goes above and beyond as a mentor. She and Kevin have [...]
