Valerie and Michael

valerieandmichael

About Us:

We began to work with two of our current children 9 years ago when we worked in a parent therapy group home. We recognized that the children no longer required group care, but wanted to continue to care for the children. We began the search for a company which met our standards in regards to standard of care for children, which is how we came to work for Quinte Children’s Homes. Together we moved four children into our current home. Two of the original children have moved on and continue to do well and the remaining two also continue to excel. One is beginning her college career and the other is in her final years of high school with an eye towards post secondary education. Michael works out of town through the week, but stays in close contact with the family through phone calls and web cameras, in excess of 5 calls any day. We are lucky to have Valerie’s mum live with us and all the children refer to her as Nana.

Qualifications:

Michael

Education:

  • Diploma in Computer Programming
  • Diploma in Computer Security and Investigations (achieved 6 letters of academic achievement)

Training:

  • Completed Therapeutic Crisis Intervention

Valerie

Education:

  • Diploma in Marketing
  • Diploma in Behaviourial Sciences

Training:

  • Self-initiated training and current in First Aid/CPR and Therapeutic Crises Intervention

Pets

Cosmo is our 10 year old, beautiful, black, short haired cat. Zak is our 2 year old Ragdoll cat.

Description of Home

Current Placements / Number of Beds Approved: 4

We purchased Michael’s childhood home in 2003. It is a large, red brick home surrounded by nature. We have a large in ground pool, a patio we enjoy barbecued dinners on and a deck. The house has three bathrooms, and 7 large bedrooms. We have three living rooms, allowing children to watch a show, play the Wii, or just have some space. The garage is filled with badminton nets, basketballs, croquet, bikes, and rollerblades, all which can be used on our large driveway and acre lot.

Management Style

We operate a family based program. We have built a strong relationships with our children’s CSWs. We have developed the trust with the CSWs to run our program as we choose and the CSWs remain open to offering help and support when requested.

Our Interests

I willingly take on the majority of the role of mother, chef, taxi cab, and mediator . Michael enjoys the recreation based activities, such as, taking kids to movies and teaching them how to use the riding lawn mower. Nana takes a very active role in the kids’ lives and enjoys teaching them how to cook, knit and sew. The kids especially love all the treats that Nana bakes. We love our family dinner time, we all take turns doing our “highs and lows” for the day. Friday night is movie, pizza and popcorn night. We enjoy many trips to Ottawa for family events, including Ottawa Senators Hockey. In the summer we enjoy our in ground pool, bon fires and drive in movies.