Caregiver receives WVCCA recognition

Family Connections Inc. is pleased to announce that a Northern Panhandle volunteer was chosen as an award winner at the West Virginia Child Care Association's (WVCCA) 30th Anniversary Awards Dinner recently held in Charleston.

Jean Bartholow, a resident of Colliers, was nominated by Family Connections in the Community Award category.

The awards banquet is an annual affair of the WVCCA which honors individuals who provide exemplary service to West Virginia's children. Member agencies may nominate their own employees, child advocates from outside their agency, foster parents and community leaders whose work in some major way has positively impacted children's lives.

According to Joanne Dobrzanski, Family Connections' executive director, Bartholow's receipt of the award is an affirmation of her outstanding service, citing, "Jean is a force of nature. She's the person in the community that knows everyone."

During her employment as a child care worker at Brooke Place, Bartholow, helped the young women develop responsibility. She shared her passions stained glass window making, scrapbooking, quilting, baking, photography and thrifty shopping skills. She also expanded their horizons with speakers.

As Family Connections was raising money to construct a pavilion, Bartholow called on the local firemen, friends and neighbors to donate labor. She also fostered an honor garden, recognizing the accomplishments of the teenagers that pass through Brooke Place.

While Bartholow is no longer an employee of Family Connections, she continues her volunteer activities with Family Connections.

WVCCA is a private, nonprofit, organization representing agencies that operate a wide variety of behavioral health and child welfare programs statewide for the most vulnerable and difficult children in West Virginia children who have experienced abuse, neglect, emotional and behavior disabilities, substance abuse and/or delinquency.

Formed in 1979, WVCCA impacts services and public policy across a wide spectrum including adoption and therapeutic group care.