We had a great event in Ranson on Wednesday during the grand re-opening our Honey Bee Family Support Center.  They had a big crowd which included Judge Cohee, community members, and DoHS staff .  The event was notably special because our children and youth in the program were present to cut the ribbon.  The Honey Bee FSC is a special place where children and families gather for support and connections.  Congratulations to Director Toni Gue and her Team!

Our Greenbrier Valley Children’s Home had a great time with the Easter Bunny getting everything ready for our children there!

Our Al Wade Forever Families Center in Northfork was busy last week preparing for Easter. Their efforts supported our community members in need, our grand families and our WECAN children and youth.  Becky Brown and her Team amaze us with what they are able to accomplish.

In Martinsburg we have had so many wonderful things going on.  They held their Children’s Memorial Flag Day ceremony.  It is always well attended with so many community partners.  Our Martinsburg team was also at the local Wawa for their “Hoagies for Heroes” event.  Supporting and recognizing the law enforcement with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office.   Our Child Advocacy Center works closely with our local law enforcement officers.

Our Jan’s House staff have been busier than ever.  Another amazing giveaway with folks lined up at the gate to get food boxes, Easter baskets, clothing and other items.  They also had their pinwheel day for child abuse prevention month.  They decorated with the help from their advisory council members, their Recovery program volunteers, their Circles group and staff.  While the giveaway was going on they had a special visit by a funder for our FSC.  To say the least, they were so amazed at all that gets accomplished with their funding.  Great work and congratulations to our Jan’s House Team!

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“Positivi Tea”  chose CHS for a special effort.  Customers purchased tea bag and then tea bags were then donated and sent to our Martinsburg and Romney locations.  Their theme:  “It’s not just a tea bag, it’s encouragement in a cup!”

Our Worthington location in Parkersburg held its first annual Easter egg hunt.  WOW it was successful, fun and engaging!  We are so fortunate to have this (still new) location.  Before long, they will host a dedication ceremony for the gymnasium in honor of a generous donor who helped us to get so much of our renovations completed.  It is great to have a place for the community.

Our Lewisburg location had visitors from Operation Cozy Corps yesterday.  This great volunteer group brought hoodies and hygiene items for teens in our programs.  They also had a surprise visit by a local home school group.  These amazing kids brought backpacks and other items for children in foster care.

It has been a busy time at our Jan’s House with community support and community outreach.   Tyler Consolidated High School FBLA class collected stuffed animals/toys for our children in foster care.  We like seeing kids helping  kids!  Jan’s House staff also held a recent community give away. What a turnout! They help so many in their community.  Where there is a need,there is CHS.

Our Summersville Team was out and about for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. “Children are more precious than gold!”

This week our friends at Bridge Valley Community and Technical school came to our Davis Child Shelter.  This great group was on a mission to have fun with their leadership alternative spring break initiative.  Our youth enjoyed a popcorn party, Sponge Bob meme game and then they all got to paint their favorite meme.

This past weekend was full of excitement with the 24 Hours of Appalachia run.   They raised  $11,400 at registration and $5,345 at the end during dinner at Barnyard BBQ.  These good people come from everywhere to participate and help raise funds for CHS.   Their enthusiasm is remarkable.

Our Team Morgantown just held a fabulous event!  Guest speakers included a foster family and a birth family.  It is a wonderful story of how the foster family cared for their child and helped them with reunification.  We also had one of our independent living program youth speak as well.  Below are just some of the amazing pictures from the event.  After all expenses were paid they raised nearly $23,000.  Congratulations to Abby and Team Morgantown.

We are very pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Al Wade Storytelling award.  Tabatha Conn, MPCH Supervisor, Amanda Runyon, JMHS Supervisor and Michelle Pritchett Transitional Living Program Social Worker.  All of the submissions this year were truly amazing.  Al Wade would be proud for sure.

Our good partners at the Beyond Wishes Therapeutic Riding program closed its program.  They reached out to our Director Emeritus, Betty Hendrick and Mary Carr, Site Manager because they had some remaining funds left over that they wanted to give to CHS.  Their generous contribution of nearly $7,000 will help support our foster care program in Lewisburg.

Thank you to Concord University’s Social Work Dept., who provided  restaurant gift cards for our foster families to enjoy a date night for Valentine’s Day.  Over the years CHS has had many of our staff attend Concord University through our tuition assistance program.

Our Child Advocacy staff were at the Capitol this week with WVCAN. Advocacy is so important, they spent some time with Senator Rucker and the precious pup!  Senator Rucker is helpful to us in the panhandle.

Below is also an article about the number of children coming through child advocacy centers in WV.

Rising case numbers highlight need for change in West Virginia

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This week we were able to visit our Romney and Martinsburg locations.  Below is the new Romney sign, it looks great from the road.

Also pictured is Sally Johnson, Ami Ray, Glen Spaid and Macie Armentrout. Glen will be transitioning to shelter supervisor in May. Macie is our shelter social worker.  Our staff at the shelter do an amazing job with our children there. Two of our youth were home from school, it was good to visit with them.

Marshall University Alumni – Big Green Chapter of the Mid-Ohio Valley and PATCH (Painters and Allied Trades Children’s Hope) came again to support our Transitional Living program at Worthington. Thank you for your support!

Our dear friends at the WSOM (School of Osteopathic Medicine) is holding a music event to support our Greenbrier Valley Children’s Home

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Our Martinsburg Compassion Drive location is getting some much needed repairs. The old addition to the building needed to have some windows replaced and some new siding for weather proofing.  It is coming along nicely!

We recently had a great meeting with our Martinsburg leadership team.  There are many reasons to celebrate their good work and dedication to the mission.

Pictured here: Kelly Franklin, Director of Berkeley FSC, Kait McKay, Supervisor of the Permanency Program, Toni Gue, Director of the Jefferson FSC,  Ami Ray, Director of Programing, Tiffany Curry, Child and Family Services Supervisor, Megan Livingston, Site Manger and Child and Family Services Supervisor and Jenna Orsini, Child and Family Services Supervisor.   Tiffany Curry and Megan Livingston will be in Charleston Feb 22-24 with Leadership Berkeley, they will have the opportunity to engage legislators.  Additionally Jenna Orsini will be at the legislature on Feb. 16 with the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network.  Jenna is also currently working on our CAC reaccreditation process.

Soon it will be Valentine’s Day, so let’s get a head start on Easter! This will be the Heart of Worthington’s first annual Easter Egg Hunt.

The American Woodmen of Morefield supported our Romney locations Little Red Stocking Campaign again this year.  Thank you to the American Woodmen and all of our wonderful Little Red Stocking partners!

We are incredibly grateful to Moses Toyota of Morgantown for their generous $16,000 donation!

This generous gift will help us continue providing care, support, and hope to WV’s most vulnerable children. We are so thankful for community partners like Moses Toyota who truly make a difference. Thank you for believing in our mission!

Pictured below: Site Manager Abby Miller presents Moses Toyota with a Champion for Children medal.

With news of The Matthew Pack Children’s Home opening in the near future, we are working diligently to prepare for BIG CHANGES.

We will be supporting up to 12 children in our new facility (over double the capacity of our current shelter!)

We are kindly asking for our community to sponsor us in this incredible opportunity by donating bedding such as comforters, pillows, sheets, pillow cases, blankets, etc. This is to ensure each child will have a safe, warm bed to sleep in. Our goal is to not have our facility feel like a shelter, but a temporary home where our children will grow, learn, and see that their futures are worth fighting for.

AMAZON WISHLISHT LINK:
https://a.co/dEjGUgN

For inquiries about donating, please contact our office at: (304)-255-0408
or reach out to our site director, Tabatha Conn, at
[email protected]

Thank you for the continous outpour of love and support!