|
Meet the Staff

When people ask us, " What makes your agency different than all the other agencies in the phone book?" ,the answer is simple:
"Been there, done that."
Our dedicated staff
always conducts themselves in a very
business-like manner...well, almost always.
We take our responsibilities seriously
and understand fully that our services
must be handled in a sensitive and loving
manner. On the other hand, we are
" real" people who know how to
laugh and have fun. We are a family
that takes the time to cry...and to laugh...with
each other. Each of us bring different
attributes to our " family" and
we are better for it.
The majority of our
staff have
been personally touched by adoption....as
adoptive parents and/or as biological
families who have participated in adoption
planning for their child or grandchild.
We are very proud of our staff and their
commitment to providing a complete line
of services in the way that does not demean
nor judge those persons choosing adoption
to add to their family or those persons
choosing adoption as a way to secure their
child's future. Although our staff
are qualified (educationally) to provide
these services, we feel that the true
value is in their life experiences and
how they can relate to the persons that
seek services through our agency.
Take a minute to stroll through this section
and meet our staff. Then, if you
decide to contact us about services, you will
know who you are talking to...and feel less
intimidated in the process.

Jan Deets, Family
Services Director/Administrator
Jan
came to work for AIM in 1986 as the adoptive mother of three children, Jeremy, Alana, and
Jennifer. She had a love for families
stunted by infertility who sought to build
their families through adoption. Jan spent many years developing the
Family Services Department program.
Her goal has always been to meet adoptive
families where they are at and to help
them move toward a feeling of comfort
in their choices, to educate them about
the adoption process, and to be there
as a source of support and love when it
is needed. Along the way, Jan added
Wade and Westin (twins) and Joni to their
family. Jan and her husband Alan
are a strong Christian couple who have
built their family through adoption.
Except for Alana, their children came
to them through "special needs adoptions" specially
needing the Deets family. The family
enjoys watching movies together, attending
performances of local and national artists,
and swimming in the backyard.

Ron Landry, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Ron is the father of 15 (see Anne
Landry, below) and has been actively involved
in the adoption field for 26 years...he
and his family serving as foster parents
for newborns and for teenage expectant
mothers. Later, the Landry's provided
a shepherding home for adult mothers planning
adoption...hosting approximately 100 mothers
over the past 20 years. Ron is often
considered an authority on legal issues
surrounding termination of parental rights
and diligent searches for absent parents.
He especially enjoys his work with biological
fathers.

Malinda Miller, MATERNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR/ACCOUNTING ADMINISTRATOR
Malinda
has worked with AIM since the birth of her second child (19
years ago) when she volunteered during her maternity leave
from another job. When it came time to “go back to work”
Malinda asked to be considered for any position that came
available because she didn’t want to work for a paycheck
any longer…she wanted to make a difference. Malinda
comes with a background in accounting but soon found a love
for working with birth mothers. We all smile when she walks into the office from meeting a new client…we know what’s coming next: “I just met so-and-so and she is soooooooooo sweet.

Denise Sowders, FAMILY SERVICES COORDINATOR
Adoption is responsible for the happiness you see on her face! The mother of four children through transracial adoption, twins foreign born and two little balls of dynamite from Texas, Denise had no trouble deciding on her career objective when she decided to finish her degree. As part of her social work studies, she was required to do some in-service work with an agency…lucky us! She loved it…we loved her and everything else is history. Denise worked for several years in the maternity department with young women planning adoption for their children but for the past two years she has been loving adoptive parents as our Family Services Coordinator. She might be the most important staff person, she is responsible for keeping Jan sane. So far…so good. Denise is currently working on her Masters degree.

Toby Coggins, Residential Coordinator from Service Provider
Almost 30 years ago, a teenaged Toby found herself in a position to plan for her unborn daughter. Choosing adoption, she never thought that 20
years later her daughter would invite Toby into her life and that the Lord would use this time in her life to prepare her for a career in the adoption field.
Toby provides transportation for young women to services, sets up apartments, does purchasing for office/apartment supplies, and is a labor and delivery
coach... oh, and shares grandparenting joys with Jan and Alan (Alana's parents).

Anne Landry, WEBSITE LIASON
Anne began her involvement with AIM in 1984 when she became the proud parent of the first AIM baby. She worked very closely with our founder to develop the Maternity Services Department where she served as director for 22 years. Semi-retired, Anne currently writes our newsletters, coordinates with the webmaster to develop and maintain the website, and works with the development of the AIM board of directors. She is the mother of 15 children, 12 through adoption of special needs. Two of her grandchildren have received loving Christian parents because her daughters chose a plan of adoption.

Alan Deets, Counselor
Soon
after joining our staff, Jan enlisted
her husband Alan to become a speciality
counselor working with clients to help
them communicate with the children they
are parenting...seeking to help the children
understand their mother's plan for the
unborn child without threatening the make-up
of the established family. He has
also conducted group counseling sessions
and monitored and approved all foster
care and adoptive placements. Alan
works part time for AIM .
Alan also teaches at a local college. Currently, Alan is developing the after-placement support group for birth parents…simply called RAP.

Maggie Castillo, HISPANIC SUPPORT
COORDINATOR
With
a background in education and being raised
to embrace and appreciate her Mexican
heritage, Maggie enjoys using varied experiences
with different Hispanic cultures to help
our Spanish-speaking
clients obtain the services they need
and to work through adoption with
a thorough understanding of the process.
Maggie's smile is genuine...you can even
hear it in her voice.

Dee Harris, Retired
When Dee applied for a position with AIM, she said that her motivation for working with an adoption agency was that she began parenting at a young age without being offered any other alternative for herself or her child’s future. She said that she wanted to be a positive support for young women who were planning an adoption for their child. We are here to testify that she did just that in the 22 years that she worked with us. In 2009, Dee retired to Florida to live near her two daughters.

Melody Allington – ACCOUNTING/ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT
Before children, Melody worked with AIM providing support to birth mothers. Taking a few years to get a good hold on parenting, Melody returned to us to provide support to …. Malinda! Melody is Malinda’s right-hand woman and sometimes she throws in her arm up to the shoulder when the rest of the staff need her help with anything from taking a birth mother to the grocery store to gathering taxable items and food from the pantries. At the same time, she is responsible for paying the bills, balancing the checkbook, and seeing to it that we bring her all of the receipts.
|