Nearly 100 children and foster parents from across the Commonwealth Kentucky will gather for a weekend of fun, family bonding and learning at KVC Kentucky’s Resource Family Conference! This bi-annual gathering takes place November 9th and 10th in Lexington, KY!  The event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for families providing care for children in need of safe, loving homes.

This years conference, Caring For Our Caregivers, focuses on self-care and mindfulness for our resource families, a term which includes foster and adoptive parents and relatives. Foster parents will hear from guest speakers and network with other foster parents while children will enjoy fun activities like games, bouncy houses and laser-tag.

This year, KVC Kentucky is thrilled to host three inspiring speakers at the conference.

Chris and Alicia Johnson will give the opening remarks for the conference on Saturday, November 10^th.

Chris and Alicia serve as Special Advisors to the Governor and First Lady of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives. They are the parents of 10 children, 7 of which were adopted out of the Florida foster care system. The Johnson’s have been engaged in child welfare for over 10 years, serving as foster parents to more than 40 children.

Sheryl Woolverton, LCSW, will give the Keynote address following Chris and Alicia’s opening remarks.

Sheryl Woolverton, LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Life Coach practicing in Lexington, Kentucky. With over 15 years of experience in palliative and end of life care, she has worked with hundreds of individuals and families navigating the role of care giving. Recognizing the struggle of finding and maintaining life balance, it has become her passion to help others develop the skills to navigate a world that can become easily out of balance. She specializes in helping her clients work through life transitions; with a focus upon maintaining wellness, self care and the often elusive balance.

Eric Wilkinson, LCSW will round out the day of training with a presentation on mindfulness and host a group meditation activity with the foster parents.  Eric is currently the Comprehensive Community Support Associate Supervisor and has over 16 years of experience in behavioral health working in various roles at KVC Kentucky.

KVC Kentucky raises private funds to fully underwrite the hotel, meal and training costs of each conference. Generous companies, foundations and individuals in the community make the RFC possible by sponsoring and attending fundraising events hosted by KVC Kentucky throughout the year.

KVC provides foster family care to more than 6,300 children each year in Kansas, Nebraska, Kentucky and West Virginia. The agency also works to prevent foster care whenever possible by keeping families safely together. There is an urgent need for more kinship and foster families to meet the needs of children experiencing abuse, neglect or other family challenges. Learn more about becoming a foster parent.

Learn more about the foster family conference at www.kvc.org/rfc.