Berinda Hollis Nwakamma 

This story was updated at 11:08 a.m., May 4, to reflect a change in the agency’s business name. 

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VALDOSTA – New to Lowndes County, a foster care agency is seeking families to help house children in need. 

Georgia Mentor, which operates in more than 30 states, has opened its first Lowndes County office, 2225 Bemiss Road, Suite C.

Berinda Hollis Nwakamma is the office program director.

She said Georgia Mentor provides health and human services to adult and children with behavioral and emotional needs.

The Valdosta office will focus on helping children with complex needs and foster care.

The child-placement agency will serve all counties located within Region 11, which includes Tift, Brooks, Lowndes and Ware counties.

The importance of the program lies within the ability to allow local kids to remain in the area.

“What will happen now is that we can keep these kids here so that they can stay in the community,” Nwakamma said. “They can continue to get the support they need locally, and they can stay within their school system.”

Georgia Mentor partners with the Georgia Department of Family and Children’s Services as the program receives client referrals from the state for placement.

Nwakamma said Georgia Mentor accepts children that are deemed “harder to place.” To place these children, families are requested.

“We can’t place Lowndes County children or Region 11 kids if we don’t have people that are willing to take these children in,” she said.

The office offers the option of adoption for its foster care families. The program has a goal of safety and permanency, Nwakamma said.

Foster parents will receive support from the agency and may come from various backgrounds.

Ideal foster parents have an open heart, a willingness to bring a child into their home and a desire to keep children local, she said.

“Keeping kids here is very important when we’re talking about trauma,” Nwakamma said. “The thing about trauma is that any kind of separation or anxiety can hinder a child from being able to develop mentally, develop emotionally, develop educationally; (there are) so many layers to what trauma does.”

To apply to be a foster parent, call Nwakamma at (404) 889-7667 or recruiter Khaliah Collins at (229) 300-2608.

Visit ga-mentor.com for more information.