WICOMICO CO.: (JUNE 6, 2011) – The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Cambridge Alumnae Chapter held a Regional Day of Service in partnership with the Tri-County and Mid-Shore Departments of Social Services on the Eastern Shore. The event, held at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Cambridge, focused on the importance of permanency for older youth and teenagers in foster care on the Shore.
Pictured back row, left to right, at the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Cambridge Alumnae Chapter’s recent Regional Day of Service are sorority members: Terenda Thomas; Johnette Lanham, President; Tara Newman-Bell, 1st Vice-President, Gwen Handy and Melissa Moore, Regional Recruiter, Wicomico Department of Social Services.
According to Melissa Moore, regional recruiter for the Wicomico Department of Social Services, “The event was organized through the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to provide community awareness about the young adults and teens in the foster care system on the Shore.”
The Regional Day of Service included guest speaker, Paris Quillet, Regional Independent Living Coordinator for the Mid-Shore Departments of Social Services, and three members of the Mid Shore Foster Care Youth Advisory Board.
According to Quillet, “Teens need a plan for their future. Often birth parents are not involved in their lives as support. The Independent Living Program offers them this support, but they also need the support of adults in their lives as mentors.”
The youth from the Mid Shore Foster Care Youth Advisory Board, Elizabeth Murphy and Arianna Kosior of Talbot County and Dondrea Robinson from Somerset County, spoke from the heart about how their foster parents have impacted their lives.
Parents Resource for Information Development and Education (PRIDE) Training is offered for individuals wishing to become foster or adoptive parents on the Shore. The next training for parents in Somerset, Worcester and Wicomico counties will be held beginning June 14, 2011 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Somerset County Department of Social Services on Mount Vernon Road in Princess Anne, MD. For further information, call Melissa Moore at 410-713-3959.
