Agape For Youth serves foster children and families in the Miami Valley
For more than 33 years, Agape For Youth Inc. has served children in foster care. While it started as a treatment foster care agency, it has grown to include family foster care, adoption, reunification services and services for young adults transitioning out of foster care.
“We not only do reunification, we do family preservation. We’ve also moved into enhanced supervised visits with families. On top of that, we received a grant from the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives this past year… to provide those services to youth and families,” says Agape founder and Executive Director Stephen Geib.
The nonprofit began as a dream of Geib’s before it officially started in 1989.
“[We were] wanting to do our best for young people to grow up and be successful and have opportunities and know that there’s an agency that is committed to them,” says Geib.
That commitment to young people inspired the organization’s name, Agape, which, within Christianity, is considered to be the highest form of love or charity. “When we were looking at names and such, what came up was, what are we asking families?” says Geib. “Agape is unconditional and we’re asking for that unconditional love. We gotta love him through the challenges and celebrate the successes.”
While the nonprofit has grown—today it serves about 82 different foster homes, approximately 90 foster children, 20-25 biological families and 38 young adults—it’s still very much in need of one resource it’s needed from the very beginning: more foster families. And while the idea can seem daunting, Jamie Fisher, director of Life Skills and Education, says that those willing to open their home will find a supportive and close relationship with Agape.
“What makes Agape great is that the people that are training you are also the people that are licensing you, so you’re able to have that core unit and that closeness for your whole process,” she says.
Once someone is licensed, they are put on a vacancy list, which can include any requests, such as age, that a family may have. When a foster care referral is sent to Agape from the county’s foster care agency, the placement team—which are the same people who train Agape’s foster parents—will make a recommendation for the child based on the available families and their requests.
“That allows that placement to really fit into their family dynamic and that family unit to where there’s less disruption of our children and causing more trauma,” says Fisher.
Families then receive two to four visits a month from Agape in addition to visits from the county case worker, ensuring families can receive support as they need it.
While the idea of foster parenting can seem very intimidating, Fisher, who’s a foster parent herself, says it’s worth the time and effort.
“It is the best way to give back to the kids and the youth in your community, having that ability to make an impact on a child’s life,” she says. “Those little things of teaching children—this is how we put our dishes away, this is how a family sits and eats, this is how we clean our room—are setting our youth up for a brighter future.”
Ways to Help
Not ready to be a foster parent? Agape For Youth, Inc., also offers additional ways for people to assist the agency.
• Volunteer to assist with Agape’s annual foster parent conference or annual picnic.
• Donate items for the Community Blessings Room, which provides children with personal items such as hygiene products, blankets or pillows, and backpacks with school supplies.
• Donate funds or attend the annual gala. This year’s gala is Oct. 7 at the NCR Country Club.
To learn more, visit agapeforyouth.com.
