Connie's Home - A Group Foster Home - 2025 Budget

If you follow Connie's Home on Facebook, you've seen lots of animals since the last GlobalGiving report. We took the children to a new city park where they have birds and goats for all to see and/or pet up close. These are great teaching opportunities.

Closer to home, literally, we've had high waters again this year, but it looks like we won't have a repeat of last year's floods and evacuations. The heavy rains and high waters from the pond and canal have saturated the ground and the children have had some hands-on experience with snails and tadpoles. (see photos)

Since the recently renewed partnership with the Juvenile Detention Center, we have been privileged to reunite another mother and child who had been separated due to the mother's detention. (see photo)

Other reunions with former foster children have given us joy and the encouragement to continue caring for children awaiting adoption. In recent months, we've welcomed back children, and their families, 2 from Australia and 1 from the Netherlands. (See photo of 'our' grown foster child reading to the children.)

If you are not already following us on Facebook and would like to see occasional updates from Connie's Home please click on the link provided or copy this link and paste into your browser and ask to join the private group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/171656899516487

That's not an old Report Title! We've had 2 significant post-COVID developments recently.

First, we have been able to return to weekly visits to the nearby retirement/nursing home. We are grateful to be able to take the older children to sing to the residents at the home. It's been just over 5 years since we last visited. We only remember 3 of the residents who have come to the singing time. Of those 3, only 1 seems to remember us. Yes, that's sad. Several of the Thai staff remember us and were glad to see us again, even though only 2 of the children were with us 5 years ago.

Secondly, the Juvenile Detention Center brought several young women to tour Connie's Home to learn about the possible employment options upon release. At one time (pre-COVID) we were staffed 100% by girls from the Detention Center. We are privileged to be able to give these girls a second chance to become productive members of society. In fact, we just hired one of the girls in the blurred photo. Also, we will be able to reunite this new staff with her young child who has been in the orphanage where most of our children come from. New moms can only keep their child at the Juvenile Center for 6 months.

Nothing else earth-shattering since our last report except for the huge earthquake in Burma. There was no significant damage in Thailand, but one building under construction in Bangkok collapsed. Tragically, many lives were lost and many Burmese died or were displaced due to building collapses there. We posted some about this event in our Facebook group.

We had a team from Riverbend Church in Virginia visit recently and took the children to the Chiang Mai Zoo Aquarium, with more photos on Facebook.

If you are not already following us on Facebook and would like to see occasional updates from Connie's Home please click on the link provided or copy this link and paste into your browser and ask to join the private group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/171656899516487

Links:

• Connie's Home Facebook group