Meet the 2024 Family and Alumni Honorees
Estos premios reconocen a aquellos antiguos alumnos de hogares de acogida, padres biológicos, cuidadores familiares y padres de acogida que han demostrado un esfuerzo extraordinario en favor de las personas involucradas en el bienestar infantil.
Seleccione la foto a continuación para obtener más información sobre los homenajeados de este año.
Christina Romero
Christina Romero is a mother of four children and a grandmother of two who has also helped raise her sister’s three children. As a parent impacted by the child welfare system, she uses her expertise to advance justice, liberation and belonging for parents, families and communities.
Romero is a parent knowledge curator with Mining for Gold. In this role, she curates experiences that center the mindsets and conditions needed for child welfare leaders and staff to co-design and infuse justice-centered approaches into practice. Advancing racial justice is possible when the voices, leadership and expertise of individuals who are most harmed by racist outcomes are centered.
She is also a co-lead for Parent Advocates for Transformation and Healing (PATH), an organization of parents impacted by Florida’s child welfare system. PATH builds collective power with parents and utilizes a community organizing modality while nurturing the growth of more parent leaders for the movement. PATH endeavors to transform the child welfare system through investment and ascribing power to families.
Romero is a founding member of the Family Engagement Advocacy Council (FEAC) in Broward County, Florida, where she works with child welfare leaders to build bridges with community members. The FEAC is an avenue for parents to have equitable representation and influence in shaping what impacts their lives. And she is a member of the Birth Parent National Network, Thriving Families Safer Children, and Broward County’s Race Equity Workgroup and Racial Equity Taskforce.
Churmell Mitchell
Churmell Mitchell is a father of two children and a highly sought national speaker on engaging fathers and collaborative parenting. As a single father, he faced many challenges, including experiencing homelessness for one quarter while attending college. As a result, Mitchell became involved with the child welfare system. While working to gain custody of his children, the system viewed him with the skepticism that many fathers face. Rather than be defeated, he was ignited with a purpose: to reshape society’s perceptions of fatherhood.
With a blend of passion and vision Mitchell founded A Father’s Voice Matters in 2017, dedicated to empowering men to become successful fathers. And in 2019, the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and The Children’s Trust Fund of Alabama asked Mitchell to help design a statewide parent advisory council. Drawing from his own journey, he underscored the impact of co-parenting and the significance of preventive services.
Beyond his advocacy for fathers, Mitchell’s commitment extends into the heart of children’s well-being. He facilitates opportunities for children with disabilities and is involved in an after-school program that supports over 300 children in developing skills and self-advocacy. Additionally, Mitchell recently became the executive director of the Alabama Head Start Association, further amplifying his dedication as he helps over 15,000 children and families across Alabama see a brighter future.
Mitchell is an active member of the Birth Parent National Network of the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance. The organization recently nominated him to serve as a member of the Alliance’s National Parent Partnership Council. He continues to speak at national conferences and events about the importance of father engagement and co-parenting.
Charles and Regina Harris
Regina and Charles Harris are proud kinship and resource parents who have fostered approximately 120 children over nearly four decades. The Harrises have six children in their immediate family, more than 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild. They formed their diverse family through birth, kinship care and adoption.
In addition to being active resource parents, the Harrises provide respite care to families of children with special needs. They started a support group, CHAIN Resource Parent Group of Maryland, for their peers navigating foster and kinship care or adoption. The group provides guidance and ongoing support to several of their church’s members whom they have inspired to adopt, as well as others who hear about the group by word of mouth.
The Harrises also serve as court appointed special advocates (CASAs), roles in which they have volunteered for over 20 years.
The Harrises’ work extends far beyond their own community. They have spoken at international, national and state events on foster care and have addressed members of Congress about the needs of adoptive, foster and kinship families. They continue to share their wisdom and insights with key stakeholders, serving as fierce advocates for children in care.
Proving that it is never too late to follow your dreams, Charles Harris steadily pursued his college goals and recently, at the age of 80, graduated with his degree in sociology and social work.
Keith and Edie Lowhorne
Keith and Edie Lowhorne postponed their retirement after receiving the unexpected opportunity to adopt their two grandchildren. Raising their own grandchildren inspired them to extend exceptional support to other kinship families.
Keith is the vice president of kinship for the Alabama Foster and Adoptive Parent Association (AFAPA), which offers education and support to adoptive and foster parents across Alabama. He also oversees their Grandparents as Parents program, speaking to the unique challenges grandparents face as kinship caregivers. As a member of GRAND Voices Network for Generations United, Keith uses lived experience to advocate on behalf of grandfamilies. Keith also chairs the Federal Administration for Community Living Advisory Council for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.
At the onset of COVID-19, the Lowhornes launched a food distribution that provided over 85 tons of food to more than 20,000 families across 11 North Alabama counties. They’ve since set up distribution locations in eight counties throughout Alabama, providing kinship families with food, clothing, school supplies, Christmas presents and more. For the last three years, the Lowhornes have worked with local stores to provide 800 children with donated school supplies for the entire school year. Edie also partnered with individuals, churches and organizations to supply kinship families with Christmas presents, fulfilling children’s wish lists.
Veronica Krupnick
Veronica Krupnick, a Hopi tribal member with Jemez Pueblo and Navajo lineage, is a role model, mentor and advocate for children and youth involved in the child welfare system. Krupnick was adopted by a nontribal couple when she was 10 years old after spending four years in seven different foster placements. She draws upon her experiences to educate policymakers, practitioners and the general public on the crucialness of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and the protections it provides for Native youth and families.
Krupnick is the Majority Leadership Analyst for the New Mexico House of Representatives Majority Leadership Office, after holding positions as a campaign assistant and Senate liaison. She’s also the vice president of the Board of Directors for CASA First (Court Appointed Special Advocates, First Judicial District), where she first served as the mentorship, advocacy and peer support program coordinator for four years. She has been instrumental in developing youth and lived expert-centered resources and trainings through New Mexico, while also providing direct peer support to youth in care.
Krupnick has also served on the House Joint Memorial 10 Task Force and the National Foster Youth and Alumni Policy Council, where she was one of the council members who co-authored “Decriminalize Being in Foster Care” Policy Priority. She was part of the Child Welfare and Racial Equity Collaborative as a lead on the “Strengthening and Protecting Tribal Families” Policy Priority, and the New Mexico Partners, expanding ICWA protections at the state level. Krupnick has received various accolades for her advocacy and community work, including the 2019 FosterClub Outstanding Young Leaders Award and the 2022 Champions of Change Award. In 2023, she was honored as a “Local Hero” by Performance Santa Fe.
