presents
House Parents
The Magnolia House
https://path2freedom.org
Mission
To create hope and healing for child survivors of human trafficking by providing safe environments and long-term programs for recovery.
Vision
Path2Freedom aims to develop a model of care replicated nationwide.
Commitment
Path2Freedom is passionately committed to serving the needs of child survivors through their individual journeys from Rescue to Restoration.
The Path2Freedom team and our partners share a focused commitment to attaining our goals by working collaboratively, and without compromising our integrity. We at Path2Freedom are humbled by the service we are called to do for these young survivors and know we cannot do this without God’s guiding hand. We rely confidently upon His loving direction to fulfill our mission.
Culture & Values
Cultivating a team of mission focused, servant leaders who embody our core values of:
Passion, Collaboration, Integrity & Faith
HISTORY
Behind PATH2FREEDOM
“NEVER THE SAME SINCE MEETING THE ONE”
— ANA STEVENSON, FOUNDER
In January 2015, Ana Stevenson, joined a group of people to hear the testimony of a human trafficking survivor, "Brittany." As she listened to the story, detailing a horrific attack against one of God's precious children, all she could think about were her four daughters. Once Ana's eyes were opened to the gravity of this issue and the lack of services designed to address it, she was moved to respond. Ana launched Path2Freedom in March of 2015.
She received her Core Competency Advocacy and the Sexual Exploitation Curriculum Certification, and set out to provide advocacy and support to those being rescued in SW Florida. Through this experience she discovered a huge gap in services when it came to children rescued from trafficking. With already vulnerable children in the foster care system, traffickers had an easy target. Once rescued these children were ending up back in the foster housing that wasn't designed to provide the protection they needed. With hundreds of children being identified as victims in the State of Florida, there were only a handful of long-term beds for them and only a few programs designed for long-term care.
So, in March of 2020 when the entire world was closing down in response to COVID, Ana and her team continued believing that God had called them to serve in this way, and so, they opened the doors of their fist Safe House for teen girls. Just as God does, He showed up and filled that house with two full time and two part time house mentors, four to five teen girls at a time, a full time teacher, and a program team to develop intervention, rehabilitation, and prevention services. This group home is now fondly referred to as the Magnolia House.
This group home is being developed as a replicable service that can be provided in other homes in the future. In the first quarter of 2022, Path2Freedom is opening a transitional home as an option for Magnolia residents who age out of our program.
LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP
Ana Stevenson, Founder
Ana Stevenson is the founder and visionary for Path2Freedom. She has been a resident of Naples since 1962. After spending almost, a decade in the banking world, she married her soul mate Jon of over 30 years. Ana has set out to address a need in the community she loves. After meeting the person that would change her entire view on the issue of human trafficking. Ana and Jon founded Path2Freedom in April of 2015. She has received her Core Competency Advocacy and the Sexual Exploitation Curriculum Certifications.
Jon Stevenson Jr., Executive Director
Jon strives to model a servant leadership lifestyle and is currently the Executive Director. Jon leads many of the day to day operations involved with the Magnolia House. His professional career spans three plus decades in the enterprise computer software industry. Jon has held direct sales, sales management and leadership positions in two of the largest firms in the industry (IBM and Hewlett Packard), and in a series of start-up software companies as an investor and founding leadership executive. Jon’s approach to life is best described in his Personal Mission Statement, which is to “Live life to it’s fullest with balanced commitments to Faith, Family, Health and Career”.
Fawn Volkert, Director of Program Services
Fawn is a wife and a mother of two beautiful young men. She is on a personal mission to see women set free from the effects of childhood sexual abuse.
Twenty years ago, Fawn dedicated herself to building a career as a nonprofit executive. This dedication resulted in her earning a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy while raising two children and serving as the Executive Director of an emerging, multimillion-dollar organization in New York City.
Fawn has since raised over $35 million for charity.
Fawn is both strategic and creative in her approach to building sustainable organizations. Her passion has been for helping small, startup organizations implement current best practices to increase their fundability among the industry giants. Her education and experience have prepared her to lead an organization through the various organizational life cycles, implement strategic growth plans, respond to the common pitfalls, and raise the necessary support to fulfill each of these things.
Currently, Fawn serves as the Director of Program Services for Path2Freedom. She was drawn to Path2Freedom’s mission as it perfectly aligns with God’s call on her life. She has experienced the healing power of Christ and is committed to serve as a vessel for the Holy Spirit, connecting women and girls to God’s transformative love. Fawn desires to provide services that are both trauma-informed and strengths-focused so that the Magnolia House residents can step into their intended design.
The House Parents for the Magnolia House will report directly to Fawn Volkert and will be key members of the entire Path2Freedom family. This couple will participate in weekly formal and informal meetings and be proactive in communicating on an ongoing dialogue with all members of the Path2Freedom team.
WHAT THEY DO
Path2Freedom's Six-Pillar Model of Restoration
Family-First
The Magnolia House is a family-first model of care that engages, equips, and empowers residents to claim total freedom over the effects of trauma while meeting the needs of the whole child in a trauma-informed environment. We believe that the house parents are our most important role to steward. The bond between the house parents mentors and residents is significantly related to the healing that we witness.
Individualized Services
We provide individualized services based on the unique needs of each child. This individualized approach is modeled throughout all areas of programming. Parenting adults strive to meet the unique familial needs of each child. Every child is assigned a personalized treatment and intervention team meeting their unique therapeutic needs.
Strengths-Focused
We recognize that each child is designed with a unique set of gifts and talents known as strengths. The team actively listens to learn about each child’s unique set of strengths, interests, and desires. We engage in conversations about those strengths in an encouraging way that allows the child to share more autonomously and openly. The organization invests in and fosters the exploration and development of strengths, desires, and interests. We celebrate with residents as milestones are achieved.
Evidence-Based
We are committed to tracking, assessing, and reporting outcomes to provide evidence of success. The model was developed upon existing evidence-based models of care and studies on the impact and treatment of trauma.
Licensed Mental Health Oversight
We aspire to become the best practice model for long-term care nationwide. Therefore, the safe house and supportive programs are monitored and assessed by a professional Licensed Mental Health professional. This LMH professional provides supervision to staff, evaluates outcomes, and works to ensure the efficacy of the Magnolia Model of Care.
Collaboration
Path2Freedom was launched to respond to gaps in services and therefore does not duplicate services. The reality is the family-first model of care at the Magnolia House relies on and values collaborating with existing service providers. Collaboration extends the child’s supportive community beyond the property of the safe home. Extending the supportive community beyond the Magnolia Program fosters longevity of support so that when girls graduate from the program, the extended supportive community remains. The Magnolia Program is enhanced by leveraging other existing valuable services. Services such as equine experiences, cooking, fitness, and art classes are offered by partnering organizations, churches, businesses, and individuals.
Path2Freedom's Comprehensive Team
Path2Freedom has a team of dedicated, highly talented staff members who support the House Parents by providing the following services at The Magnolia House...
- School: Full-time teacher, School Assistants
- Administrative Support: Case Coordination, Calendar management, volunteer coordination, program development
- Recreation: Pool, Fitness, Equine Therapy/Horse Care
- Site maintenance on the recently remodeled 5,000 sq. ft. home
- Safety & Security
The Magnolia House
A critically important part of the mission of Path2Freedom is the Magnolia House where the House Parents and girls live as a family. The home is located in Southwest Florida near Fort Myers. For security reasons, the exact location of the home will be shared with the candidate couple later in the process.
The home itself sits on a beautiful 5-acre property with ample room and space for the House Parents, as well as accommodations for up to 5 teenage girls. It is equipped with all the modern conveniences including an enclosed pool, fitness equipment, brand new open concept kitchen, and all the important amenities any parent would need.
The House Parent Suite includes an expansive master bedroom and bathroom, located in a separate wing from the residents providing a place of rest and privacy.
In addition to providing best-in-class free living accommodations, the House Parents will be provided a vehicle (Honda Pilot), fuel card, and a weekly grocery allowance.
Path2Freedom also offers the following benefits for the House Parents:
Florida Blue Health Benefits, where the organization pays for 50% of the monthly premium and a flexible working schedule 5 days/nights on and 2 days/nights off.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Path2Freedom is a remarkable organization with a mission critical focus of empowering residents at the Magnolia House to claim total freedom over the effects of trauma. The team behind this mission is dedicated to a family-first model of care to meet the needs of the whole child in a trauma-informed environment. While there is a clear vision to expand and open more safe houses in the future, leadership is intimately involved in the day to day operations at the Magnolia House to ensure the critical needs of the residents and supporting team are met.
Where it can be challenging working with teenage girls, there is additional complexity living and caring for those who have suffered the effects of complex trauma. While the house parents will have incredible support from the staff, their role is most critical in striking a balance between creating an authentic bond but also establishing clear expectations of behavior and enforcing a model of non-punitive disciplinary actions when necessary.
The House Parents will be a married couple who serve unique and distinct roles as House "Mom" and House "Dad" in caring for the girls while recognizing the need to treat each resident differently based on their own stories, personality, experiences and gifting. Gaining respect and cultivating a bond with each of the residents early on will be both a challenge and an opportunity for the chosen house parents. They will be patient, experienced in raising teenaged girls, and Christ followers who know their identity is ultimately in Jesus alone. A key challenge will be leading with love & respect, while role modeling healthy behaviors and showing grace and love when the girls make mistakes.
One of the greatest gifts that will be afforded these house parents, is the opportunity to help build a framework to train future house parents as Path2Freedom expands and grows. The House Parents at Magnolia House will be key in helping to build future training and programming models as transitional homes and future safe houses are opened in Southwest Florida and beyond.
Prayer, patience, flexibility, and the ability to be adaptable as part of this grassroots organization will provide an opportunity for the House Parents to see God work in both small and significant ways. The reality of caring for these teenage girls, is that not all of them stay in the home and many will run. Knowing how to love them in spite of this risk requires faith and dependence on God to show up in mighty ways. Equally, these House Parents will have a front row seat at life transformation and the freedom that this mission will provide these young girls.
Worshiping as a family is a key part of creating a safe and family-first, faith filled home. The House Parents will be expected to attend Grow Church with the girls each Sunday where many of the girls serve faithfully each week. Given the significance of the power of the gospel message, the house parents will be expected spend time at church each Sunday in service and create opportunities for matters of faith to be discussed in the home all week long.
As the House Parents will live on site at the Magnolia House, it will be important that they have space and time away on the 2 days/nights off each week to rest and recharge. The Magnolia House has a separate dedicated wing for the House Parents living quarters with a separate exterior entrance. However, currently the suite does not have kitchen facilities which means require the house parents to use the main kitchen in the house or find dining or housing accommodations outside the Magnolia House for the two days they are off each week.
The role of House Parents are the most critical in the work of Path2Freedom. An essential aspect of the role will be to communicate openly and work collaboratively with all members of the team including the case coordinators, the teachers, the part-time house parents - who provide relief 2 days/week - the Program Director and the founders.
THE NEXT SEASON OF LEADERSHIP
The ideal candidate couple should possess:
- The mind & heart of Christ; gentle, kind & loving
- Experience in caring for and raising teenage girls
- An authentic calling to care for and live in a home with love and care for children who have experienced complex trauma
- A marriage that is strong, where both parents role model a healthy lifestyle of a mom & dad
- Ability to adapt to a fast-paced work environment
- A teachable attitude
POSITION PROFILE
House Parents, The Magnolia House
Reports to: Fawn Volkert, Director of Program Services
Supervisory Responsibility: Oversees the residents in the Magnolia House
Internal Team Collaboration: Directly partners with nearly all full-time, part-time staff and volunteers providing support services to the residents including: Case coordinators, Teachers, Part-Time House Mentors, Administration support, Program Director & Founders.
External Contacts: Grow Church pastors & leaders, Neighbors.
Location: The Magnolia House
POSITION OVERVIEW
The House Parents will have overall oversight for the daily activities, care and support of the residents living in the Magnolia House. This wife and husband couple will be present and actively involved in the daily activities of the residents 5 days a week in the afternoons and evenings. The house parents will be responsible for setting expectations for behavior and will provide discipline in a non-punitive manner but remain firm on consequences when required.
Each parent will play a unique and specific role to best love and serve the unique needs of each child. They will proactively communicate with key members of the staff and volunteers on a timely basis to create the best environment for the residents and the organization as a whole.
The House Mom will set the tone for the house, she will be both loving & firm. She will be also be caring, nurturing and supportive, yet will know how to gain respect through discipline by using safe and effective methods. She will create an environment of fun in the house, and will bring joy and laughter to the girls lives.
The House Dad will be trust-worthy, dependable, and experienced in setting safe boundaries with teenaged girls. He will be laid back but also highly respected by the residents and won't demand anything from them. He will also serve as Property Manager for the Magnolia House and will enjoy doing chores and general upkeep of the home, the property, and the horse barn.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Lead’s daily schedule and household routines
- Manage the administration of medication for the residents
- Work with the Program Director to create a replicable safe home system
- Maintain organization and cleanliness of the house, engaging the girls in the process
- Assist in the provision of healthy meals and the development of weekly meal plans
- Monitor resident phone calls
- Track household finances
- Manage the maintenance and care of Magnolia House vehicle
- Adhere to safety and security plans
- Provide transportation to and supervision of youth group, churches, doctor’s appointments, and other offsite activities
- Coordinate any house, barn, or property maintenance issues, provide lawn care
- Oversee horse care activities
- Manage the purchase of groceries and personal care items
Magnolia House Mentors Work Environment
- Incredible opportunity to impact teenage girls in multiple ways for a lifetime
- Work as husband and wife to be Mom and Dad to girls who need a traditional, loving family setting
- Best in class support structure: staff members + volunteers there to assist in any circumstance or situation
- Fully remodeled 5,000 square foot home with pool
- Beautiful 5-acre, private property
- Adopt and participate a fully vetted operating model – no guesswork necessary
- Above market compensation
- Florida Blue Health Benefits available
- Personal Time – 2 nights off per week plus 2 weeks of vacation time after 6 months of employment
- Company automobile + gas card included
- Weekly groceries allowance provided
- DCF licensed and insured organization
- Company maintains good financial stewardship
- Faith Based organization
- Experienced leadership team and Board of Directors
- Organization-wide Core Values of Passion, Collaboration, Integrity and Faith
QUALIFICATIONS
Prior Experience & Training Needs
● Experience in working in group home, preferred
● Raising children in a Christian family-first environment
● Experience in working in a team environment where open communication and collaboration is key to the success of the organization
● Finger-printing and a multi-level background check are required aspects of the process
- 40+ Hours of Training / ongoing education (provided by Path2Freedom)
Knowledge and Skills
● Broad understanding of sex trafficking and the complexities and trauma associated with it
● Demonstrates strong leadership skills in resolving conflict and working in a trauma-informed environment
● Ability to grasp and recognize each resident will have different challenges and will bring her past experiences into the home environment
● Ability to operate calmly in a high-stress environment
● Creating a warm, tidy and inviting environment in a home where all feel loved, seen and respected
● Strong time management, planning and problem-solving skills.
CONTACT
Ready to take the next step?
If, after prayerfully reviewing this information, you sense this role and organization could be a good fit for you, please contact Toni.
317.767.4654