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Award-winning Grand Family Coalition Seeks New Leadership
Loveland, CO--In 2014, two grandmothers raising grandchildren were desperate for information and support as they tried to manage the legal and child welfare systems. Not finding much, Gail Engel and Becky Saville decided to take matters into their own hands by creating Grand Family Coalition (GFC) in 2015. GFC’s kinship navigator program's mission is to connect grandfamilies/kinship caregivers raising kin with the services they need while providing them with social activities, peer support, and encouragement that promote positive thinking and
emotional well-being. The organization also serves as an advocate at the local, state, and national levels for the 23,000+ Colorado children who live with relatives rather than their parents.
Sadly, Becky passed away in 2018, so Gail has worked as GFC’s solo leader for the past five years.
GFC has supported over 800 participants over the last 10 years. Currently supporting 524 Adults and youth in Larimer and Weld County, non of which are being supported through any kind of Child Welfare Supportive services. GFC provides three monthly Peer Support Networking groups, social events, emergency supportive services, referrals to community partners, parenting, and legal education for grandparent and kinship caregivers where the parents are not present. The Grandfamily 101 program helps new families understand what their legal options are and how to navigate the maze of Human Services, Child Welfare, and Legal Services, enroll children in school, and find mental health services that meet their needs.
As such, Gail is a member of the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network: A National Technical Assistance Center of Generations United and co-chairs the Larimer County Alliance for Grandfamilies. Additionally, she has testified at the US Senate Committee on Aging about grandfamily and kinship matters, and contributed to the Family First Prevention Service Act, the Administration of Community Living’s “Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren”
report to Congress, the Colorado’s Child Welfare System Interim Study Committee, and the formation of the Colorado Child Welfare Family Advisory Council. Beyond all of that, Gail is a 2013 graduate of the Family Leadership Training Institute, which is where she learned how to become an effective advocate for grandfamilies. GFC has earned much recognition for its dedicated service, including the 2017 Denver7 Everyday Hero Award, the
2019 William Funk Award for Building Stronger Communities, the 2019 Janet Sainer Grandfamilies Award, sponsored by The Brookdale Foundation Group, and the 2023 Casey Excellence for Children Award.
If reading about GFC’s accomplishments leaves you feeling exhausted, that’s understandable. Gail is tired, too, and says it’s time to focus on her own health and well-being.
“It’s time for someone else to take over GFC—either an individual or possibly another organization that can absorb its work,” she says. “Recent legislation has recognized the importance of children being with family rather than in foster care whenever possible. The push for this is creating more families to step up and ask for support. GFC has become a powerful beacon of hope here in Larimer County, yet there’s so much more to do.”
If you or someone you know has a passion for serving others and perhaps lived experience as a grandparent or other family member raising kin, leading GFC could be a meaningful experience, albeit one without full-time compensation to start.
To learn more about GFC, visit https://grandfamilycoalition.org/. If you’re interested in exploring this opportunity, contact Gail at ga...@grandfamilycoaliton.org or the GFC Board President Kelly Krapes at in...@grandfamilycoalition.org.
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Grand Family Coalition builds a community of support around grandparents, other relatives raising kin, and the children in their care by creating a place where grandfamilies and services connect. In addition, we bring awareness to our community concerning the needs of grandfamilies.
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Copyright ©2019 - Grand Family Coalition, Inc, All rights reserved.
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