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For Youth

Foster Care & Adoption

You can make the difference in the life of a child.
You can make the difference in the life of a child.
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About the Program

Foster Care is a temporary living situation for children and teens whose parents can’t take care of them and whose need for care has come to the attention of a child welfare agency. The length of time a child or teen spends in foster care varies depending on the family’s circumstances and the services available to help children and teens return safely home. There are currently over 1,000 children and teens in foster care in Eastern Virginia.

The Up Center specializes in placing children and adolescents with varying needs in caring foster homes. We provide a safe, nurturing, teaching home environment for children at a time when they most need it. The Up Center strives to find the best matches possible between child and foster parent and provides ongoing care and support for both.

What Makes Us Different

The Up Center is uniquely qualified to accommodate the needs of emotionally troubled and behaviorally challenged children who are at risk for failure or have failed in regular foster homes, have been unable to live with their own families, or who are going through a transitional period.
We provide foster parents with balanced and trauma informed strategies and together we teach children and youth new ways to function and see the world around them. Our goal is to help foster parents create a therapeutic/teaching home environment and form life-long positive relationships with the children they assist. Together, we work to ensure that children and youth experience positive and stable relationships, leading to more confidence and self-regulation.
The Up Center has been a licensed Foster Care agency since 1995 and was certified for Adoptions in 2007. Our team has over 68 years combined experience with The Up Center in assisting, guiding, and supporting our parents and youth in our Foster Care & Adoptions program.

Our Impact

In 2021, our team:

Hosted

77

information sessions

Placed

6

children for adoption

Reunited

18

children with their birth family

“We had a great experience with The Up Center. Our clinicians were caring, empathetic and supportive. They showed love to our kiddos and our family as a whole. I believe that The Up Center is truly impacting lives for the better every day.”

—K. Berry

“Jen and I are so impressed with the Up Center as a whole. That certainly applies to Sheridan but also everyone that we have had the pleasure of dealing with. The kid’s safety and growth are clearly your #1 priority”.

—The Dalton Family

“It’s been the most challenging and most rewarding experience, amazing in the best and sometimes the very worst ways. I can say with zero doubt that we have worked alongside the best of the best by being with The Up Center. You will never tell me differently”.

—The Cholewinski Family

Sharon Reams, MSW

Supervisee in Social Work
Sharon is the Director of Youth Services at The Up Center. She oversees the Foster Care & Adoptions program as well as the Team Up youth mentoring program. She has been with The Up Center since 2005. She is a native of Hampton Roads and is dedicated to helping and giving back to her community.

Raini Wimbro, MEd

Raini is the Resource Family Supervisor for Foster Care and Adoptions. She has been part of the Foster Care team since 2011. She is passionate about empowering children and families whose lives have been impacted by trauma and helping them heal.
Natasha Beamon

Natasha Beamon, BS

Natasha is Placement Supervisor of Foster Care and Adoptions. She has been with The Up Center since 2009. She is committed to serving children and families in the Hampton Roads community and promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in programs for children and families.

Holly Cahill B.S.

Holly is a Resource Home Clinician. She joined the Foster Care team in 2018 and has worked in child welfare since 2013. Holly is a Virginia Beach native and enjoys advocating for children in her community.

Sabrina S. Carr, MPA

Sabrina is Outreach Coordinator for Foster Care and Adoptions. She joined our foster care team in 2019. She is a native of Hampton Roads and has served our community for over 15 years. She finds it very rewarding to connect children with loving families.

Rebecca Gregory, MSW

Supervisee in Social Work

Rebecca is the Intake Coordinator for Foster Care and Adoptions. She joined our foster care team in 2018. Rebecca uses her clinical background in trauma and attachment to ensure that the time children are in our care can be filled with healing and growth as they move towards permanency.

Joseph Massenburg, BA

Joseph has been with The Up Center since 2006. He started as an In-Home Clinician and now works in Foster Care as a Therapeutic Family Clinician. Joseph loves working with the children and families to assist in their growth and progression.

Victoria Smallwood, B.S.

Victoria is the Resource Family Coordinator. She joined The Up Center in 2016 to help children and families in the community to receive and connect with additional resources and support. Believing families are forever, she enthusiastically works with the team to ensure children have a dedicated family with whom to stay.

VIEW FULL CALENDAR

Our foster parents are everyday heroes. Please consider joining our team so we can help youth in foster care maximize their full potential.
There is NO obligation to commit by attending a session and registration is required. Sessions typically last one hour and couples are encouraged to attend together.
View Calendar

Register for an Upcoming Foster Care Information Session

Fostering a child can be one of life’s most rewarding experiences. If you are interested in making a difference in a child’s life and are willing to open your heart and your home, please consider becoming a foster parent.

Fostering a child offers numerous benefits to prospective parents including: creating a strong bond through a shared goal and experience within your own family, learning soft skills that are applicable to other areas of your life, such as patience, compassion, and empathy, making a positive contribution to your community and inspiring others, and providing a safe haven and support system for children who need it most. Fostering does offer monetary allowances for your service and to ensure the proper care of the child. Substantial tax credits are also provided for foster parents.

We are currently looking for adults—single, married, divorced, LGBTQIA+ —to provide a loving home to a foster child. Please take the short quiz below to determine your eligibility.

Our Mission

We are committed to partnering with children, families, and communities to improve lives and outcomes through prevention, intervention, and support services.

Contact Us

VIEW TEAM

Location: 150 Boush St, Suite 500, Norfolk, VA 23510

Phone: (757) 965-8638

Fax: (757) 333-3274

Email: fostercareadoption@theupcenter.org

How You Can Help

Children who enter our Foster Care program often need clothing, diapers, formula, books, suitcases, etc. At The Up Center, we ensure that every child has access to NEW essential items purchased especially for them. To see a list of items frequently requested by families, including items for children, please visit our Amazon Wish List. 

During the back to school season, many children need school supplies, backpacks, coats, shoes, etc. During the holidays, we purchase gifts, toys and books for children in our program and host an Annual Holiday Party. If you would like to help our team support foster children in our care, please email us at development@theupcenter.org or make a donation to The Up Center here.

Our Mission

We are committed to partnering with children, families, and communities to improve lives and outcomes through prevention, intervention, and support services.

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150 Boush Street, Ste. 500,

Norfolk, Virginia 23510

757.354.3819

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