 Woman
comforts local residents
By Heather Holman
Summer
Reporter
When Janet Wang graduated from Purdue in 1993, she
had a goal to reach out to the world by opening a house for pregnant teens
in the Greater Lafayette Area. Although that goal has yet to become a
reality, Wang has found other means to reach out to the community.
Wang, director of the YWCA domestic violence intervention
and prevention program, first got her start at the YWCA as a night house
manager in 1994.
"I saw an ad in the paper after I graduated from
Purdue," Wang said.
Wang took the job shortly after graduating with an
Individual and Family Studies degree from the department of Child Development
and Family Studies.
Although she did not have any background in domestic
violence, she thought it would be good idea to work at the shelter in
order to learn how a house is organized and ran. Her hopes were to take
this experience, and the lessons learned, and put them into action when
she opened her house for pregnant teens.
Wang worked her way up the ladder for the past six
years, from a case manager to assistant director to her current position
of director.
As director, Wang is in charge of the development
and the supervision of the program, outreach and the shelter.
Aside from reaching out through her job, Wang is
also very active in many organizations. She is a board member for the
Big Brothers Big Sisters' Mentor Mother's program. She is also on the
board for the Tippecanoe Child Abuse Prevention Council.
Wang has helped eight children through the Court
Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program. This is a volunteer program
where participants are appointed by the court to be an advocate for an
abused or neglected child. The main job of a CASA is to tell the judge
what is best for that child.
Wang is very involved in her church, Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church. She is a group leader for the senior high school children.
She helps to coordinate activities and recently went to St. Louis with
a group of kids for a conference.
Wang is also a Stephen minister at the church, which
is a program that works with people in crisis, such as dealing with a
death or serious illness.
"I have good people skills and I work well with people
facing crisis," Wang said.
Wang reaches out to the community through her job
and the time she spends participating in different organizations, but
like most people, she starts her outreach at home, not only as a mother,
but as a foster parent as well.
Wang has been a foster parent for the past four years
and in that time she has catered to 15 children. Most of the kids are
teenagers, but ages range from 6 to 15 years.
"I only had one child and I always wanted to have
more," she said. Wang raised her biological daughter for 13 years by herself
until she married her now divorced husband. Her daughter is now grown
and has her own life, but the two are still very close.
Looking back her years as a foster parent, Wang said
the most difficult experience she faced occurred while she had two teenage
girls during the Mother's Day holiday.
Although Wang's mother died15 years ago, Mother's
Day has always been a special holiday for her and her family. Wang said
the girls and her had a nice day. "They made me lunch and they reached
out to me," Wang said. "But to see the tears in their eyes was hard."
The girls, who wanted to call and wish their mothers
well, did not have the fist clue of how to reach them. One of the girls
thought she knew how to get a hold of her mother, but she had no luck
in doing so.
"They couldn't even call them to say 'Happy Mother's
Day,'" Wang said. "Even though I was there I couldn't give them what needed."
Being a foster parent is hard work, but Wang says
it is well worth it. "It (being a foster parent) takes a lot of time and
energy, but it has a lot of rewards," she said.
Wang said she still has former foster kids that call
her to let her know they still care.
"I have the desire to do what I can," said Wang.
Whether it is a smile, saying something to make someone feel better or
giving someone a safe place to stay, said Wang.
Although Wang still has not seen her home for pregnant
teens become a reality she has not given up hope.
"I would like for it to happen," Wang said. "I keep
my eyes and ears open to the possibility of it."
Most of Wang's activities intertwine together, but
no matter which role she is playing, she's "helping people deal with whatever
they're dealing with."
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