Grace Epperly, Development Coordinator with Wesley House Family Services, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the organization.
Wesley House helps the community, one family at a time.
Epperly explained, “Wesley House is a child welfare nonprofit. We service all of Monroe County, and then, actually, as of July 1, we have moved into South Miami Dade County, servicing Homestead, and that has added about 20 staff members to our full case management program, and it’s included, I believe, about 145 additional children in the full case management, which is the foster care side of our agency. So we are doing very good work throughout Monroe County and now in South Miami Dade. In addition, in Monroe County, we do our Healthy Families Program, which is a free, voluntary program open to anyone who is pregnant or their children are three months or less. It’s a wonderful program where we have family support specialists that work with that family until that child that’s enrolled is age five. So it’s a great program focusing on parent education and child development. We do adoption services for children in foster care who cannot be reunified with their families, and we have an independent living skills program that works with our youth who are aged 13 to 18 to help them gain those independent skills they’ll need if they were to age out of foster care. Then in Key West, we started the Inez Martin Child Development Center, and that’s our preschool for ages two to five.”
The Big Splash will be held on September 6 at the Key Largo office.
Epperly said, “We’re very excited about this event. This is our first time doing this event. It’s 100% for the kids. It’s going to be five water slides, some other bounce obstacle courses. We’re going to have a foam pit. We’re going to have a toddler zone. Centennial Bank’s going to be providing hot dogs and hamburgers complimentary, then we’ll have some other snacks and refreshments available. It’s definitely a low cost event, we want the families to come out and have fun. It’s taking place from 10 to 2 on Saturday, September 6, at our Key Largo office, 5 Homestead Avenue in our backyard, and the cost is $20 per person, or four tickets for $70 and in addition to what I just mentioned, you also get a complimentary voucher to the Jacobs Aquatic Center Pool that afternoon, so you kind of get a little bit more bang for your buck. We’re very grateful for all of our sponsors. One thing that we’re offering as well is called a pass it on ticket. Many people might not have kids or they just want to support and allow some other people to enjoy the day. So you can go to our website, and you can purchase a pass it on ticket, and then we’ll share those tickets that are purchased with families in need so they can enjoy the day. So that’s one way that people can participate as well.”
The Share the Love event is always a big deal in the Keys.
Epperly said, “Last year, our traditional Valentine’s auction, we expanded it Keys wide. We’ve been doing it online for a couple years now, and it’s been very successful. So we thought, let’s take it Keys wide, and it was really well received throughout the Keys. So we want to get a head start on approaching the community to donate an item for our online auction. We welcome any type of in kind donation. It can be a gift certificate to your business. We love hotel stays. We love to feature artwork. We love to feature salons, anything that’s spa treatment. People love that type of stuff. So those donation donations can be made online. You can just fill out our form, and then we will touch base with you and how to pick it up. We’re happy to pick it up. Or you can mail it to us or drop it off. Any of your listeners who don’t own a business and would like to donate, we gladly accept home decor items that are in very good condition, or any of your artwork if you’re downsizing from there too.”
The Holiday Village is also coming up in Key West.
Epperly said, “Holiday Village is going to be Friday, December 5, at the amphitheater. It is one of our favorite events of the year. It’s all about the kids, again, a holiday focused, themed event, and then that will take place from 5 to 9 at the amphitheater, and then the BeLighted bike ride will start at eight o’clock and follow the route of Whitehead and Duval Street. We’re currently in the sponsorship stage of that event, so we hope the community can support this wonderful, family friendly event, and that sponsorship information is located on our website.”
Foster parents are also needed.
Epperly said, “We have a great need for foster parents throughout Monroe County, particularly individuals or couples who can foster teenagers or sibling groups. We highly encourage you to contact our foster parent licensing coordinator. Her name is Lindsey Betterman. You can reach her directly at 305-809-5020. She can answer all of your questions and let you know what’s involved. What is required is an eight week training course, and that begins August 14. That’s our next round of the training class. It meets virtually on Thursdays from 6 to 9pm and then after you complete that course, if you still feel it’s something that you want to become involved with, then the next steps are a home visit, and then we do the background check and so forth. So if you can offer love and stability to a child, you can be a foster parent. So we just ask that the community just consider this, look into your heart and see if this is something that you can do for the community and just become a guiding light for these children that really need a sense of security and stability.”
For more information, click here: https://www.wesleyhouse.org/