From INNER PEACE HOMES, INC.
Inner Peace Homes, Inc. (IPH), a Bowling Green-based non-profit foster care and adoption agency, has announced the appointment of Mindy Martin as Executive Director. IPH has served families and children across Northwest Ohio since its founding in 1994, and Ms. Martin will be leading the agency into a brand new era of community outreach and organizational development.
Located on South Main Street, IPH provides for the needs of children and adolescents who require out-of-home placements because of abuse, neglect or dependency and need a safe, secure and nurturing environment. In situations where reunification with one’s birth family is not possible, IPH homes are able to provide long-term foster care or assist in preparation for adoption or emancipation.
Before accepting the position of Executive Director, Ms. Martin served as a case manager at IPH. Prior to joining IPH, Ms. Martin worked for 15 years at Williams County Department of Job and Family Services in the Children Services Unit. Her primary role was to work with foster and adoptive families, and she gained diverse experience in the child welfare field during that time. Ms. Martin earned her Bachelor of Arts in History and Social Sciences with the focus being in Social Work. She has gone on to complete the Adoption Certificate Program through Rutgers University.
Not only does Ms. Martin bring experience from working in the field, but she also has firsthand experience of being a foster/adoptive parent. Ms. Martin and her husband are foster parents and have adopted two children. She continues to be passionate about children as she has worked as a youth leader and continues to work with the children’s program at her church.
She succeeds the creator and founding director Paul Thompson who founded Inner Peace Homes, Inc. the home in 1994.
IPH has served families and children across Northwest Ohio since that time, realizing his vision of ensuring safe and happy homes for children in need.
Mr. Thompson retired on June 15.
Mr. Thompson received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Work from Bowling Green University. He has gained experience by working with youth in various capacities, including as a Detention Officer, Detention Supervisor, and Assistant Director of Wood County Juvenile Detention Center, an Assessment and Admissions Counselor at a child and adolescent psychiatric hospital, and as a therapist in a geriatric partial hospitalization program. He was also the first Vice President of the Ohio Foster Care Association.
For over 10 years he was a youth sponsor with church youth groups. He also found himself involved for 10 years as a Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts of America.
Mr. Thompson and his wife, Alice, have been foster parents for well over 18 years, allowing him to provide direct care for more than 40 children. They have five children of their own, three of whom adopted.
