Recently, Pure Gift of God passed an incredible benchmark, having doled out more than $2 million in grants that have helped families in search of adding a child into their home through adoption achieve that blessed honor.
However, the adoption agency isn’t simply about helping families through the initial adoption process. It has expanded in other areas such as providing therapy for families both individually and in group sessions through Connection Center.
Pure Gift has been blessed to have the trio of Cheryl Mullet, Jeremy Nussbaum and Julissa Coblentz on staff, all three professionals bringing insight, compassion and experience to the children and parents learning to work through the process of adding a new family member to their home, either through adoption or as fostering families.
“Our hope is to create a sense of belonging and unity and a sense of connection with others who are experiencing the same types of feelings and concerns they are all facing as the families move into adoption and fostering,” Nussbaum said.
“It’s also important to let each individual and family going through this experience know that they are not alone,” Mullet said, “being able to have a place in the community where families are experiencing the hardships that can accompany adoption and foster care, and they can do it with no judgment, just acceptance and someone to listen.”
Mullet has been part of Pure Gift since 2022, and she said Pure Gift’s leadership team had the vision of bringing therapy to the forefront years ago to help families post-adoption.“They wanted to be able to provide that support and guidance that we all believe is vitally important to these families,” Mullet said.
Mullet, a licensed independent social worker, said she grew interested in becoming a therapist at a young age because her family was a foster care family.
“That instilled in me this deep desire to work with children who didn’t have a mom and a dad,” Mullet said.
She worked overseas in Asia for several years in foster care for infants who were going to be adopted. A stint in social work as a case worker followed, as she continued to pursue her desire to help children, but her heart never left the pull from the therapy world.
“I saw that broken piece between the child and parent and knew that God was calling me to be a voice for these children,” Mullet said. “But the nice thing here is that we also get to educate parents. This has met all the needs I’ve ever wanted to serve.”
Mullet spoke about bringing security and hope for both children and parents into what can be a frightening situation when it comes to adoption and fostering.
“As therapists it’s about providing worth and value and helping these children find their place in the world where they feel safe and secure in their new homes,” Mullet said.
Coblentz, a licensed social worker with experience working with both foster and adoptive families, grew up in Holmes County and said serving in this capacity has been fulfilling in many ways.
She worked as a child placement social worker in Denver prior to returning to Holmes County earlier this year in February.
“I had talked with Pure Gift before I had left for Colorado and felt blessed to be given this opportunity to touch the lives of these families experiencing some really important transitions in their lives,” Coblentz said.
Nussbaum, a licensed professional clinical counselor with experience in trauma therapy and mental health counseling, wanted to work with young children at a young age and began his career with Christian Children’s Home of Ohio near Wooster.
He did school-based counseling in Akron for 15 years before coming to Pure Gift.
“I really felt God tugging at my heart to move on from that role and find something new, and to be able to work with kids and youth in this capacity has been gratifying.”
An advantage for Nussbaum in connecting with adopted kids is being adopted himself as a youngster.
“There’s a connection there,” he said. “I think that instilled a real heart for this work with kids in this setting, and seeing what Pure Gift has done and realizing the journey they’ve been through and experiencing the ups and downs these families go through and building connections with the kids and helping them work through the many questions they have is a wonderful experience.”
Pure Gift of God offers therapeutic care for individuals and families impacted by adoption and foster care. This includes individual, family, group and equine-assisted therapy, as well as trauma-responsive training for caregivers and educators, offering home, office and community-based services tailored to the unique needs of children, teens and adults.
Included are programs like Making Sense of Your Worth, an eight-week program for adults and teens focused on helping individuals discover who they are and to understand their value in life, and The HALO program and TBRI training for caregivers and educators.
The HALO program is a 10-week intensive counseling program for families while Trust-Based Relational Intervention includes sessions for trauma education class for caregivers, kids club for children and family therapy.
“HALO engages the kids in a kids club while it has the parents in a class together helping them understand the trauma each child has experienced and how they respond to different circumstances,” Mullet said. “It also helps them better understand what they bring to the relationship and what can stand in the way of a child’s healing.”
She said trust is a huge part of what they hope to instill in each family’s experience and teach them how to address each need so the child feels safe and understood.
In addition, Pure Gift provides equine therapy with horses and group sessions devoted to both mothers and fathers, with every type of session offering a sense of unity and trust among those attending.
“Creating that sense of connection, that feeling that there are other people out there experiencing the same types of feelings and emotions every parent or child is going through is so valuable,” Coblentz said.
To further create that sense of connection and unity, Pure Gift hosts an annual fall festival for all its families at The Farm at Walnut Creek.
It has been a blessing and a happy reunion that has instilled an even greater peace knowing there are many families sharing the same trials, struggles, hopes and joys along the way to ushering in a new family member into their home.
For more information visit www.puregiftofgod.org, or to schedule a free consultation, call the office at 330-795-4948.
