Knox County Job & Family Services recognizes The Forgotten Initiative

MOUNT VERNON – Knox County Department of Job & Family Services is continuing to recognize community partners and individuals who assist in reaching the agency’s mission of making the lives of children and families better.

March’s Community Impact Award goes to The Forgotten Initiative, which helps support the foster care community through awareness, encouragement and advocacy. 

“The Forgotten Initiative’s Knox County coordinator, Brittany Clark, and her team provide monthly support activities/items to foster parents and social services staff,” said Children Services administrator Danielle Swendal. “Ms. Clark and her team’s ongoing support of foster youth allows opportunities that foster youth may not have gotten otherwise.” 

In the fall of 2019, Clark orchestrated a drive that brought in clothing, cribs, highchairs, bedding and the most coveted item, diapers, for foster families, kinship families and parents who either had their children or were about to have children returned home to them.  

In 2020 and 2021, there were local churches out of Columbus that collaborated with ODJFS to help raise support to collect gift cards to share with teens aged 12 and older. 

“Brittany (Clark) took up our agency as our sponsor and so many gift cards came in,” said Foster/Adopt coordinator Raymond Guajardo. “Many went for holidays, but then there were some left over to use to get clothing or food when removals took place. There was so much collected this past year that we actually gave more gift cards away to children.” 

Clark and The Forgotten Initiative have on frequent occasions been part of building rapport for the Children Services Division by dropping off treats or encouraging words for the staff.  

Clark has a team that is working on having a dinner for the foster families this May, and has brought in an interior designer to remodel the agency’s family visitation room to make it more welcoming and user friendly.  

“The ongoing encouragement and support from Ms. Clark and The Forgotten Initiative are very much appreciated,” said Swendal.