Family & Children Services

12/17/2025

As part of our Strategic Plan, we are increasing our support to our community partners and community at large.

CEO Diane Marquess is part of the Coordinating Council for Blueprint for Peace Kalamazoo. The Blueprint for Peace is our community’s roadmap for reducing violence by addressing root causes while also strengthening how we respond in real time when violence occurs.

Family & Children Services understands for true change in the community, it will take all of us to come together and share ideas and resources to help those who need it most.

12/15/2025

Last week our Families First team had a holiday pajama day.

Families First offers families intensive, short-term crisis intervention and family education services in their homes for four to six weeks using the Families First of Michigan model. Workers are available and accessible to the family 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The worker helps the parents identify their needs and strengths with regards to parenting, and then develop a plan with them to meet their children’s developmental, physical, emotional, educational, medical, and safety needs.

It’s hard but important work, so we’re thrilled the team took a day to get comfortable and do a bit of team building before the holidays.

12/05/2025

This week we celebrated the holidays with our all staff holiday event! We had great food by Maggie's Catering, a dynamic team building (and build up) segment with Gabriel Giron from Speak it Forward Inc - complete with a rock, paper, scissors competition, and holiday decorating offerings.

Our team works so hard all year; it is such an honor to give them a few hours to re-connect and play! Thank you to all of our staff who took the time to come and made it such a fun event!

*Thank you especially to Heather Videto and Penny Dapser from the Development team who decorated and organized the event!

12/04/2025

Courtenay VanderMolen, Director of Development, and Heather Videto, Resource Development Coordinator, recently attended a meeting of the Kalamazoo Log Cabin Quilters (KLQC) where they ate delicious food and accepted donations of the lovies that members had made for our clients.

We are in awe of their talent and their ability to harness that talent for such good! Thank you so much, KLQC members for reminding our clients that they are so loved this season!

11/28/2025

Each year, more than 2,000 youth in Michigan await permanent, loving families.

November is National Adoption Awareness Month, and as we close this month out, we hope you will consider giving a child a safe home. For more information, visit our website at https://fcsource.org/be-a-foster-parent/.

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our offices are closed today and tomorrow to allow staff time with family and friends. We look forward to serving you on Monday.

11/22/2025

This Wednesday, we hosted our annual Friendsgiving for staff. If there are two things that are true of the staff at Family & Children’s Services they are this; they are the hardest working people out there, and they are extraordinary chefs!

Thank you so much to all who took the time to join us and to those who brought an item to share.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we want to share a bit of gratitude for our staff who continue to serve our community in truly profound ways. Thank you, thank you for all you do!

(Interested in joining our team? Click here to learn more: https://fcsource.org/careers/

11/21/2025

Our good friends at Western Michigan’s chapter of Alpha Xi Delta spent another Saturday preparing for our Holiday Giving program!

While half the women decorated the gym into the winter wonderland it will be for clients and donors alike, the other half wrapped gifts for a few of our larger families that were sponsored by cash donations!

We continue to be so humbled by the generosity of spirit in these women who make volunteering fun and impactful. Thank you so much, ladies!

If you would like to become a little elf yourself and volunteer your time and talents this holiday season, contact Heather Videto at heather.videto@fcsource.org. If you would like to purchase items for one of our client families, donate money to help sponsor a family, or donate new items to our holiday store, contact Tesi Klipsch at tesi.klipsch@fcsource.org.

Learn more about our Holiday Giving program here: https://fcsource.org/support-us/holiday-giving-program/

11/15/2025

Recently, we launched an awareness campaign centered on one powerful truth: Hope is contagious.

Research shows that hope isn’t just a feeling, it’s a force. Higher levels of hope are linked to improved coping, well-being, and healthy behaviors. Among teens, it’s connected to self-esteem, a sense of purpose, and protection against depression and su***de. Hope is essential for resilience and it’s vital for healing.

Our annual HANDLE WITH CARE campaign has now begun, which is where we invite you to join us in providing immediate needs and direct services for people in our care when there are no other resources in our community.

When you give to our HANDLE WITH CARE campaign, you don’t just provide resources, you provide hope. And hope spreads. It ripples through families, into neighborhoods, and across entire communities.

Right now, you have an opportunity to spark that ripple effect.

If you’re able to join us, email courtenay.vandermolen@fcsource.org or visit our website to learn more: https://fcsource.org/support-us/handle-with-care-fund/

11/14/2025

November is National Adoption Awareness Month. Tesi Klipsch, Marketing & Communication Manager for Family & Children Services and adoptive mom is celebrating all the ways adoption has made her life so full.

“Adopting 3 of our sons has been one of the most profound blessings of our lives. Getting to watch them grow and flourish into young men that would make their ancestors proud, and who make us proud on the daily, is a true gift. I still remember all the fears and anxieties we had about adoption before adopting and virtually none of them came to fruition. The hard moments were similar to the hard moments we face as parents of our biological children, too. The joys the same as well. Parenting is parenting, as it turns out, no matter how your babies come to you.

Having been foster and adoptive parents, my husband and I will tell you that if you have any interest at all, do it. The only regret I have is that we didn’t do it sooner.”

If you have questions about foster care or adoption, contact our team at fostercareinquiry@fcsource.org or visit our website to fill out our inquiry form: https://fcsource.org/inquiry-form/

11/05/2025

Watch as CEO Diane Marquess talks about the ripple effect that cuts to programs like SNAP can have on foster children and the people who care for them. https://wwmt.com/news/state/snap-pause-foster-children-impact-michigan-families-kids-services-kalamazoo-benefits-government-shutdown-diane-marquess-wwmt

Diane Marquess, CEO of Family and Children Services, has worked in child and family welfare for more than 30 years. She says the pause on SNAP benefits could discourage potential foster parents from stepping forward. https://bit.ly/4nLWYNL

11/02/2025

We have officially started our 2025 Holiday Giving program where we match donors like you with clients of Family & Children Services to deliver hope this holiday season!

If you are interested in sponsoring a foster child or family, or want to donate items or money that will go towards making this season bright, email tesi.klipsch@fcsource.org or visit our website to learn more and sign up. https://fcsource.org/support-us/holiday-giving-program/