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#TransformChildhoodTrauma

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, announced a significant restructure of three Kansas state human services agencies, aligning their focus on enhancing community collaboration and prevention services.

Kristen Greene met the 2- and 3-year-old girls who would become her adopted daughters in February 2013 in a mall parking lot, in front of a Sears store. The toddlers came to her and her husband, Nick, with all their belongings in a trash bag. Broken toys, torn coats and no personal items made up the pitiful collection the toddlers clutched.

Saint Francis Ministries would like to offer our sincere appreciation to Gov. Laura Kelly for her continued support of refugee resettlement in Kansas. Gov. Kelly’s announcement Wednesday that Kansas will continue to accept refugees upholds the values and beliefs of Saint Francis Ministries, as we seek to protect, support and offer services for vulnerable populations, said Angela Smith, Saint Francis vice president of International Ministries.

Bill Troester began driving for the Saint Francis Transportation department just over a year ago, leaving a “mind-numbing” job driving an airport shuttle bus to begin driving children throughout Kansas. “It’s been impactful. It’s been a godsend to me,” Bill said. “I spent my adolescence as a juvenile delinquent and later on went on to become an alcoholic and drug addict. I’ve been clean and sober for about 24 years. Now when I see young people starting to tread down the road I went down, I do my best to let them know that is a nowhere road. I let them know that God gives us all the drugs we need at birth – adrenaline, serotonin, endorphins – all you have to do is know how to trigger them.