Join The Buckeye Ranch for our 2025 We Raise Hope Foster Parent Conference on March 14-15, 2025, as we focus on creating connections, support, and education for all licensed foster parents. As well as world class speakers, we will have a variety of community partners available to share information and resources.
This year’s conference will be held at the Creekside Events Center (101 Mill St Ste 300, Gahanna, OH 43230)! We look forward to seeing you there.
We’re so excited for you to join us for two days full of learning, growing, and raising hope for youth in our community. Check out the two-day conference itinerary below to know what to expect.
Throughout Day 1 programming on March 14, there will be community resources on-site all day in Salon B and Salon C spaces for conference attendees.
9-9:30 a.m.
Continental Breakfast; Check-in
9:30 – 10 a.m.
Welcome Remarks from Jessica Thompson, Director of Foster Care at The Buckeye Ranch
10 – 11:30 a.m.
Keynote Speaker 1: TBD
11:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Programming Break
11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch
1:15 – 3:15 p.m.
Street Smart Session 3:15pm – 3:30 p.m.
Programming Break
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Keynote Speaker 2: Gaelin Elmore
Nationwide Children’s Hospital PREP Program: Parental Stressors
4:30 – 5:15 p.m.
Introduction to Foster Parent Support Group
5:15 – 6 p.m. *For Buckeye Ranch Foster Parents Only
Social Hour for attendees featuring live music, thank you remarks, and a toast from Lindsay Williams, VP of Child Welfare Services at The Buckeye Ranch and Vickie Thompson-Sandy, President & CEO at The Buckeye Ranch
6:00 – 6:45 p.m.
Plated Dinner
6:45 – 9 p.m.
Award Ceremony, featuring:
9:00-10:00 a.m.
Keynote Speaker Brice Mickey
10:00-11:00 a.m.
Panel Conversation: A Candid Discussion About Life in Foster Care
11:00-11:15 a.m.
Brunch
11:30-12:30 p.m.
Breakout Sessions
12:45-1:45 p.m.
Breakout Sessions
2:00 p.m.
Conference Concludes
Gaelin Elmoreis a dynamic and nationally sought-after keynote speaker, trainer, and thought leader. He works with organizations and people to become belonging-informed in order to help children overcome trauma and unleash their potential.
Gaelin’s passion and energy for his work stems from his heart for justice and his own lived experience. His own belonging journey has led Gaelin to the National Football League, and now stages, boardrooms, and organizations, all across the country, aiming to inspire, encourage, and equip others to think differently about their work and its long-term impact on other.
Brice Mickey is the inaugural Vice President of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at Beech Acres Parenting Center and serves as the chair of the DEI Committee.
This panel discussion will feature a former foster youth and her foster parent, as well as an individual from The Buckeye Ranch’s My Place program (a Transitional Age Youth independent living program) to share about their experience.
The panel will be led and moderated by Leslie Wass, Recruiting Specialist at The Buckeye Ranch.
Leslie Wass has been a foster parent for more than 20 years and adopted 11 of those children. 9 girls and 1 boy. She has experience in kinship care, fostering, and adoption. Through the years she has created positive ongoing relationships with bio families and children that have passed through her home.
Leslie has taken her years of experiences and knowledge and now trains on de-escalation and high acuity youth and their needs. She has experience with fostering children of all aged, siblings sets, teen moms and their babies.
What started as a small group of families gathered around a kitchen table in 1979 has blossomed into the nation’s leading voice on mental health. Today, we are an alliance of more than 600 local affiliates who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need.
Fostering Further’s mission is to create a healthy, supportive relationship between community members and those involved in foster care in central Ohio.
OhioKAN is a flexible and responsive kinship and adoption navigator program designed to assist children, caregivers, and families statewide.
The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) is a statewide initiative aimed to reduce unintended pregnancy, HIV and sexually transmitted infections in the state of Ohio for young people ages 14 to 21 who:
The Ohio PREP Statewide Initiative is funded by The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Family and Youth Service Bureau (FYSB) and administered by the Ohio Department of Youth Services in partnership with the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Please contact Sophia Keller, Recruiting Specialist, at skeller@buckeyeranch.org!