Cloey is awesome at engaging in her own recruitment. Check out her most recent insightful message about older youth adoption. My name’s Cloey. I’m 15 years old. I’m a sophomore and I look forward to going to school every day. What I like about school is being around my friends and sometimes learning about the… [ READ MORE ]
One of the things that continues to inspire my work as a Permanency Specialist at Ampersand Families is our commitment to “honor the brevity of childhood.” We work with teenagers and we know that the clock is ticking for these kids to be able to experience what remains of their childhood within the security and… [ READ MORE ]
Each year, Ampersand Families represents the youth and/or the family in about 25 adoptive placements. While every one of those youth and adoptive families are different, one thing they have in common is the excitement, fear and change that comes with move-in day and the first months thereafter. By the time move-in day comes the… [ READ MORE ]
Recently, 5 Eyewitness News shared the story of McKenna Ahrenholz who is 12 years old and fighting to give a voice to the many children in the state’s child protection system. Supporting her fight is the Children’s Law Center (CLC) of Minnesota, an organization that provides legal representation to children. McKenna’s story is all too familiar… [ READ MORE ]
Insights from an Ampersand Parent In honor of National Adoption Month, we at Ampersand reached out to a couple of parents and asked if they would share their stories of choosing to adopt an older youth. Donald was more than willing to provide insight. His son Tyler moved in March 4 and they… [ READ MORE ]
Ampersand Families recently partnered with Reel Hope, a new nonprofit with a mission to mobilize faith communities to bring foster kids into forever families through stories, connections and communities. We were thrilled when founder Kaycee reached out to Ampersand Families as they were forming the organization – looking for insight into the foster care system… [ READ MORE ]
I can hardly wrap my head around the fact that Ampersand Families is 8 years old October 1st. During these eight years we have worked with 350 individual youth and parents. In the next couple months we expect to reach a significant milestone…we will have restored 100 youth to families through adoption or other forms… [ READ MORE ]
(Click image to watch Josie & Chris on KidsConnect) In this work, rejection, disappointment, and plans falling through are almost daily occurrences. There are hundreds of families wanting to adopt in Minnesota, but only one of them is going to be the family for any given child I work with. The most carefully laid plans… [ READ MORE ]
JOIN OUR TEAM! We’re a group of passionate people who recruit and support permanent families for older youth through innovative, respectful practices. If you are interested in joining our efforts, see the posting below for our Program Director. Details for applying are at the bottom of the posting. PERMANENCY SPECIALIST Primary Duties Provide child-specific recruitment… [ READ MORE ]
We are thrilled to welcome Misty Coonce to the AmperFamily as our new Program Director. Misty has worked in the adoption field since 2009. Although she has worked across many programs (domestic infant, international, and foster care adoption), supporting youth in foster care and their families is her true passion. Misty is ecstatic to be… [ READ MORE ]
The Children's Law Center of Minnesota named Ampersand Families' executive director, Michelle Chalmers, their Hero for Children in 2012, recognizing her tireless work striving to improve the experiences and outcomes for youth served by the child welfare system.
