Reaching for Healing, Equity, and Permanency; by Tori Hensley and Misty Coonce Being separated from birth parents or caretakers via the child welfare system is a traumatic experience for children and youth. Too often, being placed in out of home care means that children lose their connection to everything that is familiar to them; their… Read more
A couple of years ago a 16 year old young man, was referred to us for child specific recruitment. He had been in foster care since the age of 9, and his parents’ rights were terminated when he was 11. Over those years, he moved between foster homes and group homes. From the records we… Read more
Buddy Families – An Enriching Experience Have you heard of our Buddy Family program? Buddy families are just regular people in the community who step up to become part of the support network for an adoptive family. They get to know parents and their new kids, and help out by spending a couple evenings and… Read more
JOIN OUR TEAM! We are looking for a new PERMANENCY SPECIALIST – click here for details Ampersand Families is proud to be an employer of choice with an organizational culture of excellence that embraces humor, learning and collegial support. We employ professionals who are accountable for learning the skills, building the relationships and investing the… Read more
Did you know your purchases can make a difference? AmazonSmile donates to Ampersand Families when you do your holiday shopping at smile.amazon.com/ch/14-2004438… Read more
Give to the Max Day celebrates its tenth year of generosity in Minnesota- which coincides with Ampersand Families’ 10th anniversary of helping youth in foster care find permanency! Join others around Minnesota as they give generously to the organizations they care about. Your donation makes a difference in the life of a teen! Donate here… Read more
Donate with AmazonSmile! Amazon Prime Day is coming up on Tuesday, July 17 and will feature one-of-a-kind deals exclusively for Prime members. This a great time to shop at smile.amazon.com. AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on… Read more
https://youtu.be/vzajLN_nfbw Acceptance Comments Michelle Chalmers, Executive Director Ampersand Families Delivered at Voice for Adoption Reception Dirksen Senate Building, Washington, D.C. November 15, 2017 Thank you to Schylar, Melinda and the Voice for Adoption Board for your work – and for recognizing ours. Thanks, also, to the North American Council on Adoptable Children for your… Read more
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
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.
