Hear the experiences of Others

I am Kim and I have legal custody of my niece, who came to live with us in October 2019, a month prior to her second birthday. I found Angela's kinship support group through OhioKan. Having my niece come to live with us was a huge change for everyone in my family. It changed things for husband, my two sons who still lived at home and myself. I didn't know who to talk to and felt like nobody understood my feelings. Attending the weekly kinship support group zoom meetings helped me realize my feelings were valid. I have found another family of kinship caregivers who I can relate to. Angela has wonderful speakers who help us understand how to better parent our kinships kids and navigate the family chaos kinship care brings to a family. I don't know what I would do without them, their support and the guidance they provide.  

My name is Darlene  and I am caring for my 6-year-old grandson, Josiah . I started with the Kinship program through Ohio Kinship Program after receiving custody of my grandson. I have been an active member of the Ohio Kinship Connect group since 2020 when it was first formed. Angela Provenzano is our facilitator and started this weekly group that I am so glad to be apart of it. I have met new caregivers via Zoom and recently we had our first in person outing September 19, 2021 in honor of Grandparents month. 

I have connected with the caregivers and we have assisted each other with a variety of solutions, resources and uplifting quotes. We have a GroupMe chat and we chat everyday (checking on everyone).  I will continue to participate and invite other caregivers to joins us. 

Hi, my name is Candy.  I am 59 years old and I have guardianship of my 15 year old granddaughter.  I have had Lexie on and off for most of her life.  Her mom, my daughter passed away in 2019.  She was a recovering addict and also had diabetes.  She died from complications of diabetes and was clean at the time of her death.  She struggled in life.  She was bipolar and had difficulty at being a good mom, so I had to step in.  It is very difficult to be raising a teenager in this day and age but with the support of my Kinship Connection family I am feeling much better about my role in my granddaughters life.♥️

I would like to give a shout out to our kinship caregiver leader Angela Provenzano. She has been a light to our Kinship group hosting each week Zoom meetings and bringing us together to learn, support, encourage, lift each other up and lend an ear or a hand when needed.  Having custody of my granddaughter and knowing other grandparents, lets me know that I am not alone in this phase of my life. This second time around with parenting. I’m reminded of this saying: All kids need is a little help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them!  Knowing that lets me know that I am making a difference!  Not only in my granddaughters life but to the grandparents who I have met since being part of this group. 

My name is Lenora Im 49 years old caring for my 2 hyper grandsons. They came lived with me in 2018. My life changed I became depressed resentful lonely and sad trying figured how care for my grandsons that I wasn't prepared for. In 2020 I learned about a support group for grandparents that I became apart of called OHIO KINSHIP PROGRAM directed by Angela Provenzano. It was a blessing for me to have found this support group it helped me with my emotions and feelings, connected me with other grandparents that have became my friends and I'm able to talk with them as we all take this journey together is awesome. I appreciate being part of this support group. 

I'm Toni, a 72-year-old retired widow raising my two teenage grandgirls and helping my daughter bring up their little brother. We coparent as much as possible in this sometimes challenging, yet mostly rewarding journey. After leading a small local community support group for kinship families which disbanded due to covid, I was fortunate to find this online group. It has been a wonderful blessing to connect with the devoted members who support one another in caring for our precious kids. And the helpful information received from each other and related professionals has been invaluable!