Eckerd Partners with Oh Be Joyful Farm to Provide Alternative Placement for Foster Children

HASKELL, Okla. - March 5, 2015 - PRLog -- As Oklahoma Department of Human Services continues their commitment to eliminate shelter care for foster children as part of their Pinnacle Plan, Eckerd and community partners like Oh Be Joyful Farm have teamed up to provide more family like settings for our most vulnerable Oklahoma children.

Eckerd and Oh Be Joyful Farm recently forged an innovative partnership that provides foster families a home on the farm’s property to live in while they are supporting foster children. Currently the farm has two homes with foster families living in them. In addition to the housing for foster families, Oh Be Joyful is a ranch that also hosts foster families and their children at certain times throughout the year to participate in farm activities such as horse riding, fishing, animal care, and other fun activities. Their mission is to provide support and activities for foster families.  Eckerd’s program focuses on placing children leaving the Laura Dester Shelter in Tulsa into a loving home.

In Oklahoma, Eckerd provides services to help children in group homes or shelters make the transition to a safe, more permanent home environment. For each of the 40 young people referred by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Eckerd conducts a search for family members or supportive adults could become a connection with that child and, ideally, enable them to be placed in a more nurturing home setting.

Media is invited to tour Oh Be Joyful Farm and see the creative ways nonprofits are doing their part in helping children and families in the Tulsa community. Interviews can be arranged with the foster families living on the farm, although for confidentiality reasons no pictures of the foster children are allowed.

WHAT:          Tour Oh Be Joyful Farm
WHEN:          Tuesday March 3, 2015 at 11 am
WHERE:       18458 S. 269^th E Ave. Haskell, OK


About Eckerd:

Eckerd is a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, that has given much-needed second chances to more than 150,000 children and families since its founding by Jack and Ruth Eckerd in 1968.  Eckerd serves over 18,500 children and their families each year through life-changing child welfare, juvenile justice, work force development and behavioral health programs in eleven states and the District of Columbia. Eckerd’s mission is to provide and share solutions that promote the well-being of children and families in need of a second chance. To learn more visit www.eckerd.org. Follow us on Twitter at @eckerdyouth and “like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/eckerdyouth