Equipping you to bring hope and healing
to adopted and foster children.
The Empowered To Connect Conference, sponsored by Show Hope, is a two-day conference for adoptive and foster parents, ministry leaders and professionals designed to help them better understand how to connect with children from hard places in order to help them heal and become all that God desires for them to be.
Upcoming conferences
September 13-14, 2013 - Houston, TX - Houston's First Baptist Church
Led by Dr. Karyn Purvis (Director of the TCU Institute of Child Development) together with Michael & Amy Monroe (Leaders of Tapestry Adoption & Foster Care Ministry), this conference is ideal for adoptive and foster parents, those considering adoption or foster care and those who are serving and supporting others, including social workers, agency professionals, church staff and ministry leaders, counselors, therapists and others involved in adoption and foster care ministries or services.
Conference sessions will be held from 9am-5pm on both days. Light refreshments will be provided during breaks throughout the event, with "on your own" lunch breaks scheduled from 12-1:30pm. All participants are highly encouraged to attend sessions on both days. Professionals may be eligible to receive continuing education credit for their participation. See the CEC section for more information.
The presenters
Karyn Purvis, PhD Dr. Purvis is the director of the Texas Christian University Institute of Child Development. She has devoted the past decade to developing research-based interventions for adopted, foster and other at-risk children. She has lectured and taught all across the U.S. and throughout the world to varied groups – from trainings in the U.S. for parents, churches, judges, social workers and counselors, to international trainings for parents and professionals in England, Iceland, Scotland, Romania, Ethiopia and Rwanda. She and her colleague, Dr. David Cross, write regularly for scientific journals and parents magazines, and co-authored The Connected Child: Bringing Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family (2007). Dr. Purvis also wrote, together with Michael and Amy Monroe, Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child. She is the recipient of the T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., Texas Infant Mental Health Advocacy Award, and in June 2008 was given the title of Distinguished Fellow in Adoption and Child Development by the National Council for Adoption. Dr. Purvis holds both masters and doctorate degrees in Developmental Psychology from TCU, and is a former foster parent, a mother of three boys and a grandmother of eight.
Michael and Amy Monroe Michael and Amy are the proud parents of four children, each welcomed into their family through adoption. Together they lead Tapestry, the adoption and foster care ministry at Irving Bible Church. Since 2005, Tapestry has grown to serve hundreds of families and children each year through a wide variety of educational events, training, support groups, financial assistance and community outreach. During this time, Michael and Amy have had the privilege of personally providing support and counsel to countless couples and singles in the adoption and foster care journey. In addition, they lead the DFW Alliance of Adoption and Orphan Care Ministries, a network of over 25 churches in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. In 2009, Michael and Amy partnered with Dr. Karyn Purvis to launch Empowered To Connect, an online educational resource for adoptive and foster parents and church ministries. As part of this effort, Michael and Amy co-authored, together with Dr. Purvis, Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child. Michael also helps to lead the local church ministry initiative for the Christian Alliance for Orphans and writes frequently for national adoption and foster care publications as well as contributes regularly to AdoptiveDads.org.
Dan and Terri Coley are Show Hope founding board members who live in Franklin, Tennessee. They have served as foster parents for more than 40 infants and birthmothers, and have adopted children domestically and internationally. Their family is multi-racial and includes children with special needs. It is their heart's desire for every child to have a family, but through personal experience they have come to know the importance of understanding the challenges and needs of children from "hard places." Dan and Terri are committed to help educate and prepare families for the adoption journey and empower them with the tools to help children heal while maintaining healthy families. The Coleys have nine children and six grandchildren. Their daughter Christi lives in Birmingham with her husband Mike and daughters ColeyAnn and Kathren. Rachel and her husband, Corby, live in Philadelphia with their children, Hank, Reese, and Barnes. Carrie, her husband John, and son Rider live in Winston-Salem. Josh lives in Murfreesboro. Johnson and his wife Catherine live in Franklin. Katie, Michael, Daniel, and Anna live at home with Dan and Terri.
The National Association of Social Workers approved Show Hope to offer Continuing Education Credits (CECs) for attending the Empowered to Connect Conferences as follows:
Houston - 10.5
This workshop has been approved for continuing education credit for Social Workers, LPCs and LMFTs by the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. As per the NASW/Texas continuing education guidelines, attendance at no less than 80% of a full program is required to receive the specified number of hours. No partial credit for attendance at less than 80% of the full program will be awarded.
These CECs are for social work professionals. Professionals from other fields may elect to receive this certificate for independent submission to the appropriate boards and associations for credit. To receive credit for attendance, professionals must sign-in and out each day.
Learn more about training credits for adoptive or foster families visit our FAQ page.
Resources
Please download, read and review these materials to help you prepare for the conference.
Detailed Conference Schedule
Letter to Church Ministry Leaders (from Michael and Amy Monroe)
The Created to Connect Study Guide
Additional resources, including conference schedules and posters, may be found on the event page for each conference.