The AWFC East Texas families festivities began on June 10 at 3:00 in the afternoon and continued until almost midnight. The Dahl Family hosted the party featuring a fish fry with fish so fresh they were still wiggling - Miss Arylene and "Henry" Paul caught the fish! The families brought all kinds of treats to compliment the fish and the barbeque. The children squealed with delight at all the excitement and activities. Whenever those East Texas families gather, you can be assured that fun is abundant!

The AWFC Central Texas Family Picnic generated full bellies, sunburned noses, and bright shiny smiles. The Moores (Derrell and Wendy) opened their home to over 200 parents, children, state case workers, and staff - what a day. The Moores, Southerlands, Colons, Browns, and Carsons worked for months planning the event - and "event" it was!

Hats off to the cooks! The food was plentiful and delicious - what a spread. Dennie Shelton and Oliver Moore did a grand job with the barbeque. Dennie, how many cows did you butcher?

The barbeque was mouth-watering. In addition, each family out did themselves on all the fresh vegetables, salads and desserts - oh those desserts... Brigette's cheesecake, Mercedes' AWFC cake, and Lucia's bread pudding - yum, yum!

Besides being well fed, the families and children were entertained from the opening moment. Kids could be seen flying through the air sticking to a Velcro wall; jumping on a moon walk for hours; burying themselves in a sea of balls; and competing in a show of strength as they "rung the bell". Water was also popular as they played in the dunkin' booth and swam miles in the pool. Go cart riding was exciting for the older kids and train rides were fun for the younger children. The hayride wagon pulled by the beautiful Belgium horses brought smiles of delight from the young and old. Tug-of-war, basketball, and a fast paced game of dominos also entertained the crowd. A favorite treat was Lee Richter in his two foot Uncle Sam hat creating balloon art for the young at heart.

The day was filled with Kodak moments as the families and staff modeled their new AWFC T-shirts. Keith Brown was busy directing the food line - how much directing and how much "sampling" was going on? Mary Southerland and Lucia Colon were way past their elbows in "used" dishes. Dennie and Grace Shelton vowed they weren't cheatin' at the domino table. Cynthia Renshaw was the "queen" of tug-a-war. Mike Southerland was intently supervising Derrell - what a challenge. Paul Willis was busy guarding Brigette Holifield's cheesecake. What a day!

Ken Daughtry of Elgin was elected as AWFC Chairman of the Board. Mr. Daughtry brings a great deal of expertise to this position. Currently Mr. Daughtry has a real estate business. He has been a bank president, president of the Elgin School Board and mayor for the City of Elgin.

Dr. Jo Frazier of Manor will continue to serve on the AWFC Board of Directors and will be Vice President. Currently serving as a regional director of the Texas Education Agency, Dr. Frazier also brings a great deal of expertise. She currently serves as Vice President of the Elgin School Board.

The newly elected member of the Board is Carroll Humphrey, owner of a chain of restaurants in the Austin and Houston area. Mr. Humphrey will serve as secretary of the AWFC Board. His business expertise will be invaluable in guiding AWFC.

Sharon Willis, Administrator; Rebecca Allen, Foster Care Program Director; Sheila Falco, Emergency Shelter/Assessment Center Program Director; and Jeanne Bracewell, Financial Director reported to the AWFC Board. They brought the Board up to date on the programs, donations, activities, YFT findings, and the financial standing.

AWFC recognizes that summers are an exciting and challenging time for families and children. Summer days are exciting with no school and many activities. These same days are challenging in keeping them filled with activities as the $'s for these mount up. In order to help families with extra "fun", the agency provided $100 for recreational activities for each child-in-care.

The families and children were very excited about the additional funds. Some families bought season tickets to the theme parks, others sent children to summer camps, and others planned trips.

AWFC is committed to utilizing all available resources to enhance positive experiences of for all of our children.

After reviewing the family's records, children's records, staff's records, and the agency policies and procedures, YFT made some minor recommendations and has issued a 100% compliance letter. The families and staff deserve "a big pat on the back" for making quality care a priority and way of life for AWFC children!

In reviewing the past year, the team agreed that it had been a "phenomenal year"! Over 350 children have been served in foster care and emergency shelter care. Over 50 families were trained and verified over the past year. The AWFC staff is increasing with over 40 persons joining the AWFC team.

In identifying the major positive factor of the agency, strong " teamwork" was named as the key. Teamwork between staff, foster parents, PRS workers, juvenile probation workers, and treatment providers has created a truly quality program that really serves the needs of children.

As the administrative team looked to the future of AWFC, they were overwhelmed with the potential of the organization in serving children. A careful balance of growth and quality of service was established as a priority. In addition, the administrative team pledged a continued commitment to personal involvement in all phases of the agency. President Paul Willis summed this commitment up by stating "Quality growth is important because children must be positively impacted by AWFC. However, never can we get so large that we loose the personal touch with our families, staff, friends of the agency, and children. One of the foremost goals of the administrative team is to provide support to the front line - our foster families and staff. We must continue to make our "open door" policy a daily working practice."

The team developed a list of goals and objectives for the agency with a time line for implementation.

Rachel Hale is the new telephone voice and is assisting AWFC for the summer with support responsibilities. AWFC is blessed with a tremendous team!

A BIG AWFC WELCOME TO:

AWFC hosted a luncheon for the conference. Rebecca joined other providers in explaining to the juvenile probation workers how our agency can serve the needs of children in care of juvenile probation.

AWFC, 4E approved, continues to be successful in working with juvenile probation in a number of counties.

Althea F., Lydia W., James P., Nick R., Thomas P., James S., Chris M.

In addition, AWFC salutes Dr. Dan Gullekson who recently completed his medical degree in optometry. We are proud of Dan and glad to have him home.

In addition, Eunice Humphrey of Killeen is a newly verified respite worker . Welcome to A World For Children!

As a licensed social worker and ACP, Rebecca brings much knowledge and experience to her role. She wears many "hats" - trainer, supervisor, treatment team director, and placement coordinator. Rebecca's high expectations and demand for quality services have been invaluable in molding positive reputation of the agency.

Professional, thoughtful, compassionate, witty, and determined are all positive characteristics of Rebecca. AWFC is indeed fortunate to have Miss Rebecca!

Dr. Lee Carter has joined the AWFC treatment team on a consultant basis. Dr. Carter is on staff of Cedar Crest as the Clinical Director. Dr. Carter is sharing his expertise with AWFC. He offers valuable expertise as a psychologist in staffing the children's individual service plans with the treatment team. In addition, he available to the staff therapist for consultation regarding individual cases. AWFC welcomes Dr. Carter!

AWFC Says "See You Soon"
but not "Goodbye"

Baby Parker Cohen has pulled at his mothers heart strings and Lisa Cohen has decided to not return to AWFC as planned. Hopefully, Lisa will rejoin the team at a later time. Lisa we miss your bright smile and tremendous talent - we hope you return soon.

With tears in our eyes, we say goodbye to Cindy Gunckel. She is joining the staff of her church and will be directing a pre-school program. AWFC's loss is definitely God's gain. Although no one will ever take Cindy's place, we know God has a replacement in hand - He never takes without giving. We already miss you Cindy!

Our flash from the West - Dave Wilkins is mending well. After undergoing extensive surgery, Dave is bouncing back quickly. We miss Dave tremendously and hope he will be able to rejoin our team in the future. Dave's dedication and commitment to AWFC represent the cornerstone of the agency. Thanks Dave for all you have done! We miss you!

                              July                                                                                          August

July 9 PMAB (Refresher) AWFC 6:00 p.m.                            Aug 4 PMAB (Refresher) Killeen 6:00 p.m.

July 14 Orientation AWFC 10:00 a.m.                                     Aug 11 Orientation AWFC 10:00 a.m.

July 20 East Texas Support Group 6:30 p.m.                          Aug 13 Medication Training AWFC 7:00 p.m.

July 20 West Support Group 6:30 p.m.                                    Aug 15 PMAB (Initial) AWFC 9:00 a.m.

July 23 South Support Group 6:30 p.m.                                   Aug 17 East Texas Support Group 6:30 p.m.

July 28 Killeen Support Group 9:00 a.m.                                 Aug 17 West Support Group 6:30 p.m.

                                                                                                      Aug 20 South Support Group 6:30 p.m.

                                                                                                      Aug 25 Killeen Support Group 9:00 a.m.

Through the generosity of area businesses, the children residing at the AWFC Emergency Shelter/Assessment Center are enjoying a commercial quality "play scape". The play scape was specially designed by Richard Wood of Playwoods to serve the described needs of AWFC children. Built for children ages 3-12, the play scape meets a variety of physical development goals and objectives

Audrey Wilson launched a campaign in January to gather funds for this project. Through her diligence and generous donors, this $10,000 project was completed in May. Clark Wilson of Clark Wilson Homebuilders, John Gorman of Tejas Securities, and John Ramming of ramming Paving donated the funds for the project. Duane McGlauflin and J. C. Evans provided the gravel and coordinated the entire project. Wayne Smith of Centex Materials supplied the concrete and Bobby Finley of Greater Austin Development formed and set the concrete that borders the play scape. A World for Children salutes these individuals for "having a big heart" for our special children.