Issue10_SpringSummer2017

The Giving Back Committee was formed in 2015 to promote and foster social responsibility and involvement through charitable giving, volunteerism and community projects. Since the Committee’s inception, we’ve been involved in dozens of programs and events that give back to our communities. We also realize that many of our employee owners are involved individually in supporting their own important causes - because of this, the Giving Back Committee will also be focusing on how we can give back to our own employee owners, and bring attention to the causes and initiatives that we collectively support. This will be done through a “Giving Back Profile”: a bi-monthly feature on an employee owner doing special and amazing things in his or her life outside of BL.

Matt & Elise are passionate about fostering and adoption, especially siblings. While oftentimes it can be stressful and challenging, it’s also incredibly rewarding to see the children flourish in a loving and stable home. HOW CAN YOU HELP?..................................................................... Anyone who has kids knows how demanding and expensive it can be – let alone 6 kids under the age of 7. Please reach out to Heather Halotek or Jessica Osborne for more information. FOSTER CARE STATISTICS.................................................................. • There are approximately 62,378 children in the U.S. foster care system whose parental rights have been terminated and who are waiting to be adopted. • In 2015, 53,549 children were adopted from foster care. • Average age of waiting children: 7.6 years old. • Race/ethnicity of waiting children: 43% Caucasian, 23% African-American, 22% Latino. • Gender of waiting children: 53% male, 47% female. • The average child in foster care waiting to be adopted goes through three different placements and has been in the system for 31.7 months. • In 2015, more than 20,000 children aged out of foster care without a permanent family. If you’d like more information on fostering or adoption, please feel free to reach out to Matt Stark directly, or utilize the following resources: 1.888.KID.HERO (Connecticut Dept. of Children & Families) AdoptUSKids.org or 888.200.4005

A GROWING & DIVERSE FAMILY....................................................... Matt Stark is a Senior Engineer & Construction Inspector who joined the BL Family in March of 2014. He works out of the Hartford office – but he’s mostly in the field performing Construction Inspection services throughout CT. Six years ago, Matt and his wife, Elise, became a foster/preadoptive family with The Department of Children and Families – in that time, they’ve fostered 20 (yes, 20!) different children. All the children they have fostered are from local families that have experienced a variety of trauma and crisis in their lives.

Matt and Elise’s family can change at a moment’s notice. Currently, they have seven children ranging in ages 1 year to 20 years old. Together they have a 7-year-old son named Ryan and have completed an adoption of a sibling group, Adelyn and Brandon, pictured above. Currently, two of their children are classified as medically complex, one being their adoptive son and the other is a baby boy placed with them for adoption since his birth. In mid- December they took placement of another sibling group of two girls ages 10 months and 6 years.

If you’ve been giving back and would like to be profiled to help bring awareness to an organization or cause that is important to you, please reach out to Heather Halotek.

issue 10 // 11