Coats Needed

Our Kid's Clothes Closet needs new children's winter coats to fulfill the needs of local foster children this winter season. This program serves children infant-teenager, so all sizes are welcome. The coats must be new and can be donated at the Council of Churches (627 N. Glenstone) or the Ronald McDonald House of the Ozarks (949 E. Primrose).

Thank you for helping us keep children warm this season!

Adopt-a-Caseworker Web Exchange

Exciting news!!

Our Adopt-a-Caseworker strategic planning meeting is now over and we continue to finalize our program policies and procedures in preparation for the January 09 program kick-off.


With the brilliant donated help of my husband, an online Web Exchange program is being created. This program will allow the exchange of items available for donation from Partner groups when their "adopted" Caseworker does not have a need for that item on his/her caseload.

It's a way we can channel all available donations to Greene County Caseworkers to distribute to their client families without the fiscal or physical responsibility of providing storage for the items.

How does it work?

~ Partner groups with available donations first offer the item to their "adopted" Caseworker
~ If their "adopted" Caseworker has no need for the item on his/her caseload, the Partner group asks Ambassadors for Children to list it on the Web Exchange
~ Greene County Caseworkers are notified by email each time a new listing is posted
~ Caseworkers contact the Partner group to receive the item for a family on their caseload
~ This system operates on a 1st come, 1st serve policy
~ Items are automatically removed from the Web Exchange 7-14 days after being listed
(depending on how long the Partner group is willing to hold the item)
~ Caseworkers are responsible for either delivering items to their clients or following
procedures for arranging delivery (in the case of large items)

The Web Exchange site will be available for use in January 2009
To view the new Ambassadors for Children website, (in progress) click Here
To view the current Ambassadors for Children Website, click Here

Pictured: Some of the items expected on the Web Exchange

"The Adopt-a-Caseworker program is supported by grant #2005-VF-GX-K009 awarded by the Office for Victims oice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, in cooperation with HALOS. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of HALOS or the U.S. Department of Justice."

It's almost January!

You know what that means...our Adopt-a-Caseworker program will be starting! We are very excited for this program to become operational as we begin to make "matches" between Partner groups and Child Protective Caseworkers.

~ A few upcoming events ~

Caseworker Training
Ambassadors for Children will be training Greene County Caseworkers at Children's Division and their Contracted sites providing Foster Care Case Management and Intensive In-Home Services. The training will occur during regularly scheduled Caseworker staff meetings in early January 2009.


Partner Group Training
Ambassadors for Children will be training faith, business & civic Partner groups who have already expressed a verbal committment to participate in Adopt-a-Caseworker. This will take place at the Council of Churches on January 20, 2009.

Recruitment Luncheon
We are planning another Adopt-a-Caseworker Partner Group recruitment luncheon in February/March 2009. The program will be presented and attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions as they decide if it's a good "fit" for their group.

Missouri Compassion Conference
Ambassadors for Children is partnering with Missouri Compassion and other local faith-based organizations to provide a conference for the faith community in April 2009 on ways to help local families involved in Child Protective Services. The Adopt-a-Caseworker program will be presented at one of the breakout sessions at this conference.

"The Adopt-a-Caseworker program is supported by grant #2005-VF-GX-K009 awarded by the Office for Victims oice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, in cooperation with HALOS. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of HALOS or the U.S. Department of Justice."

Tutoring Program adds New Element

Ambassadors for Children has begun a wonderful partnership with The Ozarks Literacy Council to enhance the Tutoring Scholarships program we offer for Greene County foster children! In addition to funding tutoring sessions, we will be providing tutoring "starter kits" to each foster child as they begin tutoring. These kits will be assembled by The Ozarks Literacy Council and will contain brand new books and other educational resources specialized for each child's educational and emotional needs.



There will be a benefit car wash to support this project at the In & Out car wash (North Glenstone, just South of Kearney in Springfield) on November 19th. All proceeds will benefit this program. Sondra Uzzell, Ambassadors for Children Director, has also been invited to participate in a radio interview from 4-6pm on November 19th (at the Car Wash benefit) with Paula Shumaker, the Director of The Ozarks Literacy Council.

Free Haircuts for Foster Kids!

Our Kid's Clothes Closet program is now offering a free haircut coupon to every foster child each time they visit to pick out new clothing (2x/year). This is made possible through an extremely generous donation from The System, a Paul Mitchell Partner School in Springfield. Special Thanks to Christy Sandwell, friend, staff member at Ronald McDonald House of the Ozarks, and student at The System for initiating this fantastic partnership! Special Thanks also to Mr. Greg Kellogg at The System for being so generous and pleasant to coordinate with!

2008 Business Expo

Ambassadors for Children was successfully represented at the 2008 Springfield Business Expo sponsored by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce on October 2, 2008. Our booth was staffed from 8:30am-7:00pm and we had the opportunity to share our Adopt-a-Caseworker program with many people in the community.

This was a fun event and we are thrilled to continue expanding community awareness about our programs, especially Adopt-a-Caseworker. Special Thanks to the following members of our Advisory Committee who volunteered time at our booth: Karenanne Miller, Connie Condict, Cynthia VanBuskirk, Denise Bredfeldt, and Mary Casada. It couldn't have been done without your help and support!

Pictured above: Sondra Uzzell, Agency Director poses just after booth set-up



Pictured at Left: Sondra Uzzell & Cindy VanBuskirk, Advisory Committee member, pose at the Expo



Pictured Below: Two side views of our Expo Booth

"The Adopt-a-Caseworker program is supported by grant #2005-VF-GX-K009 awarded by the Office for Victims oice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, in cooperation with HALOS. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of HALOS or the U.S. Department of Justice."

$19,500 Grant Awarded by Community Foundation of the Ozarks

Ambassadors for Children was awarded a $19,500 grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks on October 1, 2008 as part of their 2008/2009 Health & Social Services grant cycle.

These funds will be used to purchase brand new clothing for The Kid's Clothes Closet program and to fund tutoring sessions for Greene County foster children through our Tutoring Scholarships program. There were over 819 foster children in Greene County in FY 2007 (source: Greene County Children's Division FY 2007 statistics), and these programs served 337 of those children. With this great support from The Community Foundation of the Ozarks, we can continue to provide these wonderful services for foster children in our community.

Thank You Community Foundation of the Ozarks!

Pictured at right: Dr. Gary Funk, Community Foundation of the Ozarks, and Sondra Uzzell, Director of Ambassadors for Children