ABOUT KID CONNECT
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KID Connect empowers children and families involved in Pierce County Dependency Court by addressing unmet needs beyond the scope of the courts, child welfare agencies, and other organizations. We provide funding to ensure these children experience the joys of childhood while supporting their social, educational, and cultural growth.
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KID Connect supports kids in the foster care system in Pierce County by providing them with things that normalize their childhood and bring joy to their lives.
• We've filled special requests for typical childhood activities and the extra things that bring joy to a child's life. These range from athletic gear and athletic fees, music lessons and instruments, to bedroom decor, to a trip to the zoo - expenses that families, foster parents, and other caregivers involved in the child's life cannot afford.
• We support the Book For Me program which provides new books to encourage a love of reading. We recently purchased a large number of books thanks to a grant from Pierce County.
• We also provide families with things to facilitate visits or return home.
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KID CONNECT BOARD
| PRESIDENT: | Jenny Kenyon-Gentry |
Jenny Kenyon-Gentry has been a Child Advocate since 2008 - 7 years in King County and then in Pierce County. She has a Master of Jurisprudence in Children's Law and Policy from Loyola University Chicago. Jenny works at Casey Family Programs, the largest U.S. foundation dedicated to improving foster care. Her role there is to liaison with other nation organizations with related missions. Jenny's favorite part of her job is supporting alumni of foster care, birth parents, relative caregivers and resource/foster parents to share their experience in and ideas to improve the child welfare system with policy makers. Jenny enjoys spending her free time sailing with her husband and dogs.
| VICE PRESIDENT: | Stephanie Somerville |
Stephanie Somerville has been a passionate Child Advocate since 2015. After a distinguished career spanning 45 years as an Accounting Manager and Legal Administrator in two law firms and several construction companies, she retired in late 2024. Recently, she embarked on a new part-time journey as a Certified Behavior Technician, working with autistic children to continue her dedication to helping young lives. In her free time, she cherishes moments with her two children, six grandchildren, and other family members. She also enjoys reading, socializing with friends, traveling, and staying active through workouts, walking & hiking.
Mary Bartley has been a Child Advocate since 2010. Mary holds a BS in human services from Empire State College and an MBA from Canisius College. During her working life, Mary had multiple careers, including social worker, director of volunteer services, and financial advisor. Following retirement, she and her husband moved from Buffalo, NY to Tacoma, where they are enjoying the mild weather, beautiful views and proximity to their children and grandchildren. In addition to her Child Advocate work, Mary spends her time knitting, traveling, gardening, and reading.
| TREASURER: | Cindy McClelland |
Cindy McClelland began volunteering for the Children's Home Society in 1975 while in high school and was hired in 1976. She began her 36 year career with Pierce County in 1983 where she worked in the Pierce County Assessor's Office as an Office Assistant , Budget & Finance Department as Office Assistant and the Public Works & Utilities Department as a Billing Supervisor and Management Analyst where she retired in 2019. She has been a passionate Child Advocate for Pierce County since 1999. Cindy received the Ken Nelson Advocate of the Year award in 2019.
"Being a Child Advocate has been the most rewarding job I have ever done and it has been an honor to work with the children and families involved in dependency."
Cindy has 3 daughters and 1 son, 3 grandsons and 1 granddaughter and 3 great-grandsons, and 1 great-granddaughter. She enjoys reading, gardening, movies, and spending time with family and friends.
MEMBERS AT LARGE
Kim Seevers began her career in 1993-2004 in Pierce County District Court Clerk as a filing clerk and later, a judge's assistant. In 2004, Kim left the court to sell real estate and work as an outreach minister advocating for families in Pierce County facing food insecurities, insufficient housing, domestic violence, homelessness, poverty, mental health illness, and those families challenged with caring for elderly or disabled family members.
In 2020, Kim was sworn in as a Volunteer Child Advocate with Pierce County and in 2021 was hired as a full time Pierce County Guardian ad Litem. In 2022, Kim took on the additional role of a Pierce County Guardian ad Litem/Advocate Supervisor.Kim is an active member of the Catholic Women's Club of Pierce County, enjoys reading, gardening, traveling, and spending time with her husband of 22 years, grandson, three grown daughters and sons-in-law that live in the area.
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Kathy Bertram served as president of Kid Connect Pierce during 2020-2021. She had retired in 2010 after 11 years as an Administrative Assistant in the Pierce County Juvenile Court CASA/GAL Dependency Program. Prior to that she spent 22 years as an Administrative Assistant and Information Services Specialist at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. She and her husband share four children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. She enjoys reading, working out at the Y, gardening, having her grandkids over for visits and traveling with her husband.
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Debra Carter has been a Volunteer Child Advocate for Pierce County since 2014, when she was moved by a tragedy in the community to do something to help children involved in a dependency. She loves helping families, and the amazing people she meets doing this work. Prior to becoming a Child Advocate, she had the privilege of planning and implementing several humanitarian projects. Some of her favorites were an all women build in Tacoma with Habitat for Humanity, a clothing drive for women exiting Mission Creek Corrections Center, a project that provided over 40 mother/newborn packets for the NICU at Mary Bridge Hospital, and a project that collected and sent comfort goods to children hospitalized in Afghanistan.
Debbie and her husband of over 50 years have 4 daughters, wonderful sons-in-law and 13 amazing grandchildren. Much of her time is happily spent on them. While an Advocate, Debbie also returned to school and completed a BA in Marriage and Family Studies from Brigham Young University-Idaho, which has been useful in understanding child development and family dynamics. Debbie received the "Outstanding CASA (Advocate) of the Year" award for 2015 and a "2016 Volunteer of the Year Award" from the Pierce County Executive and Council.
In her free time, Debbie likes to knit, garden and jam on one of her many ukuleles!
Christal Davis: "I started with Pierce County Juvenile Court in 1996 as a volunteer in the Diversion program. I went on to work as an extra hire detention officer in 1997, working evenings and weekends, until I was hired full time in 1998. In 1999, I was hired as a probation officer and worked with juvenile offenders. In 2006, I became a Guardian ad Litem in the Dependency Unit. Encouraged and motivated by the work in Dependency, I decided to become a foster parent in 2008. I have had over 50 children in my home. To avoid conflicts, I only accept cases outside of Pierce County. In 2017, I became Advocate Supervisor, mentoring and supervising child advocates. When not busy with work or the responsibilities of being a foster parent, I enjoy reading, spending time with family, photography, cooking, woodworking and being creative."
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Clarissa Fletcher: Clarissa was born and raised in Michigan, moving to Tacoma in 1990 after being assigned to Ft. Lewis. After leaving the military, she started her educational journey. She completed the Therapeutic Recreation program there because she thought she wanted to work with the older population. Clarissa was invited by a friend to volunteer at the court on Sundays and she hasen't left since. Clarissa has been employed with Juvenile Court for more than 26 years. She has been a detention officer and probation counselor; her current role is as the community and volunteer services coordinator. Clarissa absolutely loves seeing youth and families WIN! That can be as small as a child re-enrolling in school or a family reuniting. She loves this community and is happy to serve in any capacity. Clarissa believes in the mission of KID Connect and the work we do to support youth impacted by the child welfare system.
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Patsy Tyvand: Before becoming a Child Advocate in 2021, Patsy Tyvand was a certified mediator, dealing with neighbor and employment disputes, parenting plans, Pierce County district court settlement conferences, and hundreds of small claims court cases.
Her work experience also includes being a high school teacher, technical writer, and project manager in IT development. She has two sons and three grandsons, and likes reading, gardening, movies, and plays, plus taking her miniature schnauzer on neighborhood walks.
She believes advocating for children in dependency is important work, because it helps provide them with support and security while their parents address the issues that resulted in their children being brought into care.
SECURE DONATIONS
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To donate by mail, please make check out to "Kid Connect" and mail to:
Kid Connect
Attn: Buffy Via
CAP
5501 6th Ave
Tacoma, WA 98406
If you have any questions, please use the Contact form
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