Board Members
Meet our team here at Open Homes!
Teresa Brown
Secretary
Michael Brown
Grant Mierzejewski
Veronica Mierzejewski
Joseph Spencer
Treasurer
Beverly Spencer
President
Steve Rieske
Sandy Rieske
The Brown Family
Our family began our foster care journey in the fall of 2003. We received our first of what would be 21 foster placements over the past 15 years.
Foster care has permanently changed our perspective on life, and even God, as we see His strong desire to defend and care for orphans through the Bible. Our children have seen firsthand the negative impact that abuse and neglect can have on a child. They have watched children enter our home literally with just “the clothes on their back.”
They have learned to sacrifice so much of themselves as they have willingly shared their toys, their rooms and even their parents with these children. They have seen the implications of a very “broken system.” They have learned to be less entitled. Simply put, they have been changed for the better! Our oldest child, Lauren, even decided to major in Social Work so she can continue to be directly involved with the Child Welfare system. She now has her Masters Degree in Social Work and is a supervisor for Children’s Services in Summit County.
I will be the first one to tell families interested in foster care that it is not easy. Caring for these hurting children is much more complicated than simply providing for their basic needs, overseeing their education and getting them involved in some activities! There are days when the “red tape” of the system can be overwhelming. There are moments when we think, “I just can’t do this anymore.” There are big disappointments when children whom we have poured our lives into seem to not care at all. There is grief when a child leaves our home and we must trust that their brief time with us will somehow have a lasting impact on them for the rest of their lives.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27
The Mierzejewski Family
Grant and Veronica started there journey of foster care and adoption almost 8 years ago. It has been a journey filled with lots of curves and winding roads that have made them feel like they were on a road climbing the same mountain over and over with no end in sight.
They would say it has been in those times that they have truly relied on their faith in Jesus to get them through.
Grant and Veronica say “Ask us if we would change our lives for the road that is straight and flat and we would answer an adamant ‘No’. We love the road that we have taken. Not in spite of the curves, winding roads, and mountains, but BECAUSE of them.”
Grant and Veronica along with the rest of our team would love to connect with anyone who has questions about getting involved in the local foster and adoption care community.
The Spencer Family
Joe and Beverly felt called to adoption early on in their relationship and knew it would be part of building their family. They interned at an orphanage in Haiti, which first sparked their love of adoption. They have been married fifteen years and have four children; two biological and two adopted out of foster care. Special needs parenting prepared them well for five years of being foster parents.
The Spencers like to do things thoroughly, whether fostering or walking the road of adoptive parenting. They have a particular passion for the Heart Gallery, attachment issues, neurofeedback therapy, and talking to other adoptive parents in order to help them not feel alone on this journey. God has directed them each step of the way, and they have seen God’s hand closely in the healing He has brought to their family.
Joe and Beverly along with the rest of our team would love to connect with anyone who has questions about getting involved in the local foster and adoption care community.
Sara Bennett
Sara has a long history of working with children. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and worked briefly as a paraprofessional in Bowling Green City Schools. Sara was a foster parent for about 4 years, provided respite, had several placements, and adopted her son out of foster care. She spent over 2 years working at Adopt America Network and held a position as a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Recruiter. In that role, Sara especially enjoyed visiting with youth in the foster care system, advocating for them, and helping to identify connections for support and potential adoption.
Sara and her son have walked a very challenging road over the past few years. Their trials have made them knowledgeable and passionate about educating others on impacts of trauma and mental health disorders. This includes general trauma response, PTSD, attachment issues, anxiety, depression, mood disorders, and more. They also have a strong desire to help and encourage single parent families as well as those with a small support system.
Sara and the rest of our team would love to connect with anyone who has questions about getting involved in the local foster care and adoption community.