Posted: 1/20/2014

Helping Children Heal: Co-Parenting & Mentoring

Best friends Maggie Wojtylak and Deanna Johnson have been co-parenting and mentoring biological parents since their home was licensed on March 25th, 2008.

Currently, they are serving as mentors to a birth mother of a child placed in their home and have been supervising visits with her for almost a year. Since January, Deanna has been taking the child to the mother’s home and supervising the weekly visitation. Deanna gives the mother lots of encouragement, teaches her how to properly care for her child, and is showing her how to parent.

Deanna feels that she has been instrumental in showing the mother how to bond with her son and has given her a sense of hope and accomplishment. Maggie and Deanna have developed trusting relationships with her; she feels reassured in knowing that she now has someone that she can trust and go to if she ever has a problem, question, or concern.

Maggie and Deanna are hopeful that the child will be reunified with his mother soon. Once that occurs, Maggie and Deanna will keep in contact with the family, and they plan to remain a part of their support system.

Are you the next Maggie or Deanna?

Register for one of our information meetings to learn more about how to become a foster parent! 

Call (863) 519-8900 x 289 or email ghinkle@heartlandforchildren.org for information on how to become a foster parent.  Foster Parent Information Nights and orientations are listed on our calendar and may be found in the events section of our Facebook and Google+ pages.