Villages Highlight: Jennifer Doty-Robinson

Jennifer joined The Villages team three years ago. All totaled she’s spent 25 years serving families in various jobs. She says, “The Villages by far has been the best place to work and does the most for families and children.”

Jennifer works in The Villages Elkhart office with the job to find, train and license new foster parents. She is proud of the impact her work is making on the team as they continue to expand awareness and interest in the Elkhart area.  She explains that she strives to create real relationships with Villages foster parents – new and seasoned – which helps to support these families each step of the way.

“I make sure that every new foster parent has a seasoned foster parent to lean on and be able to connect with on various issues. I also maintain a strong relationship with case managers to know what is going on with every child we serve,” says Jennifer.

Because she takes a personal interest to connect with case managers and families, Jennifer says she’s able to share the real ins and outs of foster parenting at pre-service trainings. She also introduces the case managers during a pre-service class so the new foster parents can meet the staff who they’d be working with to ask any questions.

Jennifer also has created support groups based on topics parents need. “I had a support group about reunification, the emotional ties surrounding it and how to move forward. The support group included seasoned foster parents that have experienced having to reunify children with biological parents and new foster parents that were struggling with reunification,” says Jennifer.

She says she is most proud of taking on the challenge of growing the Elkhart office by licensing new foster parents. “Elkhart used to struggle with licensing new families and now we have more growth than ever before. This means we can serve more children by providing them with viable, nurturing families that want to give children a safe place to heal and feel loved. My goal is to keep the same momentum going because slowing down is not an option!”

“I want people who feel the tug to become a foster parent to know that we are with you every step of the way, and we will go above and beyond to help,” says Jennifer. “I have yet to meet a single Villages employee that wasn’t dedicated to our families and kids. We have the best of the best case managers, support staff, and directors in the field!  Foster families and staff truly become part of the Villages family for life.”