Thanks to our generous community, Angels’ Arms foster families are blessed with many wonderful things from clothing, birthday parties, bikes, school supplies and so much more. Debbie Clark, an Angels’ Arms foster parent from our Ballwin home, wanted to show her kiddos and other Angels’ Arms children what it means to give back. She came up with the idea of having our “Little Angels” perform acts of kindness each month in the communities in which they live. First on the list, baking goodies for the local fire department. All three Ballwin homes met up to bake assorted cookies for Metro Station No. 2.

The firefighters welcomed the families with a tour of their firehouse, firetruck, and ambulance. The day ended with the kiddos presenting their thank you cards and cookies to the firefighters.

What a great way to involve the children and show that there are many ways to lend a hand and show appreciation for others. We’re excited to see what the Little Angels will be doing next month.

Angels’ Arms welcomes a new member to the team, Amanda O’Neal. She will serve as the Teen Preparedness Director of Life Launch, a new program dedicated to preparing older foster youth living in Angels’ Arms homes. It involves working one-on-one with youth and incorporates life skills, career exploration, job shadowing, mentoring, and college visits as well as collaboration with other agencies focusing on the aging out population.

Amanda earned her Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Missouri- Columbia in 2007. She was employed through the MO DSS Children’s Division from May 2007 through August 2015, serving as case manager, resource licensing worker, and resource licensing supervisor. Much of her work included support of older youth and their foster families. She will help develop Life Launch to meet the needs of youth in foster care as they prepare to enter life as young adults.

Amanda is anxiously awaiting graduation from the University of Missouri- Columbia where she will receive a Masters in Social Work with emphasis in program development, policy, and administration in May 2016. When not working or studying, she spends time with her husband Nick, their two boys, Max (4) and Jon (2), and their extended families. They enjoy going to the zoo, swimming, and going to the playground.