Mission

Leeward House is dedicated to providing connection and support for foster and adoptive families through fun, encouraging camp experiences.

Vision

For every foster and adoptive family to feel connected, valued, and supported.

Our Board of Directors

Kim VanDevender President

Tony Fragozo Treasurer

Sheryl Bieniawski Secretary

Cindy Fragozo

It all started with this smile!

This smile on an adorable little 10 year old boy named Misha in Ukraine. A smile that lit up the room. We were blessed to spend six weeks with him in our home in the summer of 2013, thanks to an orphan hosting program through New Horizons for Children. As we moved forward to adopt him, we learned of his other siblings, an older brother and sister who also needed a loving home. Before we ever saw the first photos of Vanya and Marta we knew we couldn’t leave them behind, and when we finally did get see their precious faces in photos there was never any doubt all three belonged in our family. So after months and mounds of paperwork, our entire family traveled to Ukraine in April 2014. We immediately fell in love with this beautiful country and met wonderful people we still call friends today. Finally, on June 10, 2014, we had our court day and the VanDevender family grew from four to seven. We now had five children! Kyle (20), Kelly (17), Ivan (Vanya-16), Marta (14), and Mykhailo (Misha-11).

God is so good!

Adoption is both the most rewarding and the most difficult thing we have ever done.

Adoption in real life isn’t like the movies. Parenting children that have experienced trauma is tough. You will hear us say that over and over. I (Kim) quickly realized most people didn’t want to hear the truth about how things were going. About six months after our adoption, I realized my friends had stopped calling. I felt so alone. Trauma affects the entire home, and we were all constantly on edge. As I spiraled into a dark pit of depression, I spend many nights crying. I didn’t know what I was going to do.

Then God reached down His hand and pulled me up out of the pit.

And He gave me the vision for Leeward House.

Leeward House was founded in 2018 to fill that huge need for support. A family camp experience where everyone can leave their worries behind and enjoy time outdoors in God’s creation. Our family found healing on a lake in Maine, experiencing laughter and joy that brought us closer as a family, and we want to share that with others through our family camp experiences. Our vision is that every family attending a camp will leave feeling encouraged, connected, and supported to continue the journey.

That is Leeward House.

A place where foster and adoptive families can find safe shelter from the storms trauma can bring.