Meet Sylvia Gray: One of the Panelists on Saturday at Summit

Meet Sylvia Gray from our Covington, Louisiana, family who will be joining us on Saturday, October 14, for our panel discussion: Building and Sustaining Relationships with Social Services, Blessing Them and Building a Camper Referral Network.  

A recent retiree from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Sylvia has a wealth of information to share. She loved her many roles during her career at DCFS: foster care specialist, adoption specialist, adoption supervisor, adoption subsidy supervisor, home development supervisor, adoption consultant and adoption program manager/supervisor of Wendy's Wonderful Kids Recruiters.  

Sylvia is a mom of one grown son and a grandmother of two. She facilitates a Bible Study Fellowship Group, serves in different capacities at her church, volunteers at RFK, and loves her book club of over 10 years. 

She and Lisa, her friend of 54 years, made a bucket list when they turned 60. This past spring, they drove Route 66 for their 66th birthdays. In October, they are meeting at the beach to plan their next adventure! 

Sylvia got involved with RFK in 2014 when Director John Wondergem called to find out how to get foster children to attend. After Sylvia met with her regional manager about the safety measures, kids were allowed to attend camp. 

Sylvia’s first role at RFK was to simply observe and make sure safety measures were being followed. She fell in love with camp and became the Gopher and later Placement Coordinator for RFK Camp and Mentoring, though she’s still willing to "go for this and go for that." 

Camp was a conversation at every monthly home visit after RFK. Kids loved showing caseworkers what they received at camp, especially their mail and picture albums. Camp not only served as respite, but the experience often preserved a placement and helped kids see themselves and others as worthy and awesome.  

Now Covington has T.R.A.C. and T.R.A.C.life to serve these same kids into their teen years. Sylvia even volunteered as a gopher for T.R.A.C.life National Leadership Training in July by delivering and serving lunch to all the trainees. 

Developing a good relationship with DCFS is important. Come learn more during the panel discussion on Saturday morning. Sylvia can’t wait to share her heart!