{"id":112372,"date":"2022-05-24T21:17:59","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T01:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=112372"},"modified":"2022-05-24T21:17:59","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T01:17:59","slug":"kidspeace-names-stafford-va-couple-2022-national-foster-parents-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=112372","title":{"rendered":"KidsPeace Names Stafford (VA) Couple 2022 National Foster Parents of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCHNECKSVILLE, PA (May 24, 2022)<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Willie and Paula Aristene<\/strong>\u00a0of Stafford, VA have been named KidsPeace\u2019s 2022 National Foster Parents of the Year.\u00a0 The Aristenes\u2019 selection was announced Saturday 5\/21 at the conclusion of the organization\u2019s first-ever Foster Care Virtual National Conference.<\/p>\n

The couple was one of six foster families nominated for the award – one from each of the states served by KidsPeace\u2019s Foster Care and Community Programs (FCCP) operations.\u00a0 In announcing the award, KidsPeace FCCP Executive Director Steve Howe noted that the selection committee cited the Aristenes\u2019 willingness to take on the care of challenging foster children and record of success with the children placed in their home – quoting one reviewer\u2019s comment that \u201cThe Aristenes were born with the ability to change someone\u2019s life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The couple were nominated for the recognition by KidsPeace Virginia state manager Jessica Mendez.\u00a0 In her nomination, Mendez noted the Aristenes\u2019 commitment to helping many different children through fostering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have taken infants all the way up to 18-year-olds into their home, they have kept in contact with the children who have left the home and moved on, they have celebrated the children\u2019s high school graduations, they have accepted respite placements and are always our \u2018go to\u2019 family when we are struggling to find a placement for a youth,\u201d Mendez said. \u201cFrankly, we in the Richmond office are floored over and over again at the Aristenes\u2019 willingness to go above and beyond in their dedication to ALL children they bring into their home,\u201d Mendez adds.<\/p>\n

As a result of being named KidsPeace National Foster Parents of the Year, the Aristenes received an all-expense-paid trip to the National Family Focused Treatment Association\u2019s (FFTA) conference in New Orleans this summer.<\/p>\n

The other state nominees included:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Madison Eckert and Josh Mandeville of Franklin, IN;\u00a0<\/strong>Laurie and Chris Tomascik of Richmond, ME;\u00a0<\/strong>Ann Mathis of Kingston, NY;\u00a0<\/strong>Blanche Royall of Angier, NC; and Christina and Jeremy Schoenrock of Pottstown, PA.\u00a0 Each nominated family will receive a $500 cash prize, and a plaque recognizing their achievement.\u00a0 The awards were made possible through the generosity of donors to the KidsPeace Foundation.<\/p>\n

For 140 years, KidsPeace has been building on its expertise to give hope, help and healing to children, adults and those who love them. Through its comprehensive range of residential treatment programs; accredited educational services; unique psychiatric hospital and foster care and community-based programs, KidsPeace is dedicated to helping people connect, transform and overcome their challenges to ensure a stable future, transition to adulthood and gain independence. Since its doors opened, nearly 300,000 children have participated in one of the multitude of programs KidsPeace offers.<\/em><\/p>\n

For additional resources or more information on how to get involved, become a foster parent or make a donation, please visit\u00a0www.kidspeace.org<\/a>. Follow us at\u00a0www.facebook.com\/kidspeace.org<\/a>\u00a0or on Twitter @KidsPeace.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information Provided By:
\nRobert Martin
\nDirector of Communications<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCHNECKSVILLE, PA (May 24, 2022)\u00a0–\u00a0Willie and Paula Aristene\u00a0of Stafford, VA have been named KidsPeace\u2019s 2022 National Foster Parents of the Year.\u00a0 The Aristenes\u2019 selection was announced Saturday 5\/21 at the … Continue reading KidsPeace Names Stafford (VA) Couple 2022 National Foster Parents of the Year<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/kidspeace.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/105500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}