Annie C Courtney Fdtn

06/13/2026

A beautiful day to come visit us at Norwalk Pride at Veteran’s Park with water views!!!
Fantastic gathering of vendors and entertainment
Have a great weekend!

06/08/2026

Did you know?

"In 2024, ...hotlines received an estimated 4.37 million reports involving 7.7 million children. Of the nearly 3 million children
screened in for an investigation, 82% were unsubstantiated for abuse or neglect."
-Casey Family Programs annual Signature Report

06/06/2026

Today we’re in Ridgefield celebrating Pride Month. Plenty of activities and vendors to enjoy.

Stop by and gather info on how you can help our kids in foster care.

06/03/2026

A beautiful day to be in the community asking for folks to share their hearts and homes for our children in foster care.

Today we’re at the Bridgeport Resource Fair, tomorrow (Thursday 6/4) Westport Farmers Market and Saturday 6/6 at the Ridgefield Pride event.

Stop by and gather some info or call our office at 475-235-2184 and register for one of the free 2 hr Zoom information sessions.

Enjoy!!

05/31/2026

A sunny day to enjoy the cultures that create the Stamford community.
Stop by our booth , say hello and consider registering for an upcoming foster care Zoom informational session on this last day of National Foster Care Month.

Or call our office to register for an upcoming session 475-235-2184

Have a great day

05/30/2026

We’ll be at two events this weekend
Saturday in Waterbury and Sunday in Stamford…
Stop by, enjoy the activities and consider how you might be able to help our kids in foster care.
Have a great weekend

05/30/2026

Thank you Mayor Smyth for recognizing Annie C and all the individuals and other organizations that serve our children and teens in foster care.

This week I was honored to present a proclamation in honor of National Foster Care Month.

I met with and presented the proclamation to Thomas Moore, Community Outreach Director for the , a Waterbury based foster care organization.

The work they do is so important and I encourage everyone to check them out to see how you can either become a foster parent or help those who are stepping up to foster.

05/28/2026

Thank you City of Waterbury - Mayor's Office for recognizing the importance of National Foster Care Month and the contributions for Waterbury residents in caring for our most vulnerable. Hosting the event was Family & Children's Aid in their Project Joy space (gorgeous!). thank you also to CT Department of Children and Families for all you do every single day to support our foster parents and the children and families that they serve.

05/25/2026

Children in foster care are frequently misdiagnosed. When you become a foster parent, you will become a detective - listening for the clues, breadcrumbs, really, a child will provide for you so that you can start to understand their behavior. Then, and only then, can you can help THEM understand where their rage and fear and grief are coming from. This is when healing begins.

90% of children with complex trauma are misdiagnosed.

Ninety percent.

Let that sink in.

Not because these children are “bad.”
Not because they’re broken beyond repair.
But because trauma in children rarely looks the way people expect it to.

It looks like rage.
Like shutting down.
Like stealing food and hiding it under a bed.
Like flinching when someone moves too fast.
Like screaming over small things because their nervous system has never known peace.
Like lying before they’re even in trouble because survival taught them the truth was dangerous.

These are children who have been neglected, abandoned, abused, exposed to violence, bounced from home to home, forced to grow up way too fast.
Children who learned before kindergarten that adults leave.
That love can hurt.
That safety is temporary.

And instead of asking,
“What happened to this child?”
we slap labels on them.

Oppositional.
Defiant.
Manipulative.
Aggressive.
Attention-seeking.
Too much.

But what if the “behavior” is grief?
What if the anger is fear?
What if the shutdown is survival?
What if the child everyone keeps trying to punish is actually terrified?

Because a child who has lived through chaos will often recreate chaos before they trust peace.
Not because they want to.
Because trauma wired their brain to survive, not to feel safe.

And honestly?
Some of these kids are being medicated for symptoms of wounds no one ever slowed down long enough to understand.

We pathologize pain we refuse to sit with.

We expect children to act healthy while carrying things grown adults would collapse under.

Then we call them difficult when their trauma leaks out.

I will never stop fighting for these kids.

Never stop being the person in the room asking for context.
Asking for compassion.
Asking why we are so quick to diagnose the child while ignoring the trauma that shaped them.

These children do not need less accountability.
But they do need more understanding.

Because behind so many “hard behaviors” is a child still waiting to find out if love is actually safe this time.

05/20/2026

Our thanks to Newtown’s First Selectman Walczak for this proclamation and to John Voket, a true advocate for our children/teens in care.

Local officials and staff gathered at the Newtown Municipal Center Monday, May 18 to celebrate an official proclamation recognizing National Foster Care Month and the important work of the Annie C Courtney Fdtn. Among those who gathered for the occasion, from left, are Newtown Human Services Director Natalie Griffin, Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert, Newtown Fire Marshal's Office administrator Nancy Schreiner, Annie C. Community Outreach Director / Foster Family Recruiter Tom Moore, and Newtown First Selectman Bruce Walczak. Schreiner was asked to attend because she has served as a long-, short-term, and emergency foster parent to a number of youths since 2012. The proclamation was facilitated by Newtown Economic and Community Development Director John Voket, who is a long-time foster and adoption advocate.