Dennis Rich and Monica Huzling, Realtors at Keller Williams Realty of Palm Harbor, help paint a playroom for a Dunedin foster family as part of the company’s RED Day of service on May 13.
DUNEDIN – Janice Griffith has fostered 145 kids in her 16 years as a foster parent. But after so long of giving, on May 13 it was her turn to receive.
As part of Keller Williams Realty’s RED Day of service, Keller Williams employees from Palm Harbor helped complete the Griffiths’ playroom – a longtime dream of Janice and her late husband, Phillip.
The Dunedin residents had always wanted to build a playroom for the kids, but that dream was put on hold when Phillip died suddenly in 2006.
RED Day, or Renew, Energize and Donate, was started by Keller Williams’ vice chairwoman, Mo Anderson, and all Keller Williams Realty associates throughout the United States and Canada were asked to donate their time for service projects in their communities.
The leadership team at the Palm Harbor office decided to collect food for the food pantry; collect items for the women’s shelter, The Haven; and most of all, the group wanted to do something to help foster kids, said Matt Fishel, a real estate agent at the Palm Harbor office.
Matt and his wife, Julia, have helped put together duffel bags of clothes and supplies for foster kids in Tampa for years and ask their customers to put a bag together for the kids as well. They suggested their Hillsborough County foster connections, but the group wanted to help Pinellas County kids.
Eckerd Community Alternatives, which handles the foster care system in Pinellas and Pasco counties, connected the group with the Griffith family, where there are currently 10 children between the ages of 2 and 22.
The children are a combination of foster and adopted children. Over the years the Griffiths adopted eight children.
April Putzulu, communications manager for Eckerd Community Alternatives, said she knew this family would be a great candidate for the project, but even she was touched by their whole story.
“We all thought we were just coming to look at a foster home that’s done a lot for the community, but then she talked about this being the dream of her late husband who died suddenly, that this was their dream together to finish the playroom together so not only they can take in more children because that would free up a bedroom, but also have a place for the kids to play while safely watching them and also have more living space,” Putzulu said.
Keller Williams associates turned RED Day into RED week, starting almost a week early with an electrician running power out to the playroom for air conditioning. Then the group sided the room, put in a real floor to replace the deck, installed new windows and doors, and added insulation and carpet.”
“The kids couldn’t even come out here to play in the summer because it’s so hot and they couldn’t use it,” Matt said. “And there was a wood deck underneath the flooring so the kids would get chewed up by mosquitoes and they couldn’t use it six months of the year. So we sealed it up and sided it and made it mo’ betta as they say in construction.”
Janice said she and her husband backed into fostering when a friend of theirs asked them to keep her two children. One day the friend came by and was high and wanted to take the children away, so Janice said they had to contact Human Services, and after training, the Griffiths were able to keep the children.
“We always wanted a lot of kids, but we never wanted to have them,” Janice said. “There are so many kids out there who need a place.”
She said it has been rewarding to get to know so many kids, but she had no idea it was as many as 145. She feels fortunate that she still gets to see many who come back to visit and who stay in touch.
The Griffiths also have taken in many special needs children. Janice said she has had experience with this because some relatives have handicaps, such as Down syndrome, and a close friend has been in a wheelchair her entire life but doesn’t think of herself as handicapped. That’s exactly how Janice treats the children – as equals.
“I had a boy who came into my home, and he had cerebral palsy, and he wanted a drink of water, so I said ‘Okay, go get it,’” Janice said. “And he said, ‘What do you mean?’ So I said go get a drink of water. He went and got a glass and he was drinking it and then spilled it on the floor and he freaked out. I asked what’s the matter, and he goes, ‘Well I spilled the water on the floor.’ And I said, ‘Okay, well there’s a towel. Go clean it up.’ Because where he lived before, they didn’t allow him to do anything, and here I had him do things. But how are you going to learn if you don’t have the opportunity to try things.”
Life has been more difficult since her husband died, and she is grateful for all the help on her house.
“It’s overwhelming,” Janice said. “It’s a dream that my husband and I had a few years back and he got sick and passed away. I think about it and I start crying.”
The playroom will make life easier by opening up the house for more use and giving the little kids a place to play. The big TV will be moved out there and now it will be easier to keep the rest of the house clean while that is the designated messy play area, she said. It also will be helpful for Thanksgiving when the whole family comes over and there are about 35 to 40 people all crammed into the house, she said.
Troy Griffith, 20, of Dunedin came to live with the Griffiths when he was about 3 and was later adopted. He now is out of the house but lives nearby and still comes back to visit often. He said he enjoyed growing up with the Griffiths and is grateful to have a place to grow up. He said the playroom will help by providing more room and a nice, cool place for the kids to play.
“It’s real generous, that’s for sure,” Troy said. “I like it. It’s finishing up what my dad started.”
Falicia Griffith, 19, came to the home as a foster child at age 7 and was also later adopted by Janice and Phillip. She said she had moved around to several homes before she came to live with the Griffiths and would always get sad because none of the previous families wanted to keep her.
“This is a nice home,” Falicia said. “It was very nice and the people and kids were nice, the mother was nice, and everyone was just so nice.”
Falicia said that her favorite thing about living there is that it’s a big family and there is always someone to hang out with. She, too, was looking forward to enjoying the finished playroom.
While the construction experts worked on the playroom, other associates helped outside and cleaned up the yard, repaired the fence, fixed the jungle gym, put up swings and a basketball net, and painted patio furniture, said Julia Fishel. She said there were probably about 50 Keller employees and another 30 to 40 other local people who contributed time and work on the house.
Julia and Matt said they are grateful to Lowe’s Home Improvement, 26990 N. U.S. Highway 19, for selling them materials at cost and other help. The group also thanks the numerous businesses and services that provided help for free.
One Keller Williams associate found a family on Craigslist who was getting rid of a bunk bed, only to find out that they were a foster family too. The mother had died and the father couldn’t handle all the kids by himself, so he was happy to give the Griffiths the last bunk bed as well as various clothes and toys for the kids.
Donna Suchocki, a sales associate with Keller Williams, and her husband, Bill, did all the gardening at the house. They planted tomatoes, spider plants, brought in some planters, moved the existing planters out of the yard where they were drying up and finished off a gardening area, she said. They later planted peppers, spices and onions. Janice likes to cook from scratch and she has an army to feed, so Suchocki said she wanted her to have some fresh vegetables and herbs to cook with.
“I hope that (the projects) bring them outside more so that they can enjoy the outside of their house as well as the game room that we finished so they’re not stuck inside,” Suchocki said. “We opened up a whole other part of their lives that was obviously up and going at some point in time, but when they lost their father, her work load just made her unfortunately have to neglect what was going on out here, and now that the kids are older, we’re hoping that now that we have it all fresh that the kids will be able to help keep it up.”
Suchocki added that it feels great to be a part of something that helps change someone’s life and gives a fresh start.
Gwen Campbell, a Realtor with the company, agreed.
“I hope it gives them a head start so they can move forward,” Campbell said. “Having some things caught up, finished. Sometimes that’s just peace of mind where you can drive up to the house and know you don’t have a million things waiting for you to do, and it’s actually a safer place for the kids because they replaced some 4x4s on the jungle gym, so it will be safer to play on.”
Foster care information
There are 175 licensed foster homes in Pinellas County, and 406 kids in the Pinellas foster care system.
Eckerd Community Alternatives needs more foster families. Call the Eckerd Foster Parent Recruitment Line at 866-233-0790.
The benefits of fostering:
• Foster parents make a difference in many children’s lives as their families go through difficult times.
• Foster children enrich foster parents’ lives, and one’s own children learn the value of helping others.
• Foster parents receive free training and support from foster care workers and other foster parents and may join foster parent associations for additional support.
• Financial assistance is provided for the foster child, including monthly stipends, medical coverage, annual clothing vouchers and reduced child care.
The requirements:
• You can be married or single
• You can either have children of your own or not
• You can own your home or rent
• You can work outside the home
• You must be at least 21 years old
• You need to have stable housing and income
• You will need adequate sleeping space – a bed for each child placed in your home
• You will need to complete 36 hours of required pre-service called Model Approach to Positive Parenting
• You must pass a background check and have a home study completed
• You will need to work in partnership with the Eckerd Community Alternatives system of care
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