LOCAL

CIC breaks ground on Pennington Home

Special to the Log

Bill and Bobbi Pennington, Brian & Kim Pennington, other members of the Pennington family, along with the CIC Board of Directors and staff, help celebrate the groundbreaking of the next family foster home at the Children in Crisis Neighborhood in memory of Ty Author Pennington. The newest home is scheduled to open in the fall 2016.

Children in Crisis broke ground on their seventh Foster home this week, the Ty Pennington Home. The Pennington family and CIC Board and staff celebrated the groundbreaking at the CIC Children’s Neighborhood in Fort Walton Beach. This is another giant step forward and a significant milestone for CIC.

CIC opened an emergency shelter for abused at-risk children and the first family foster home in 2008. Additional family foster homes opened in 2010, 2013 and 2015. All of the homes have been at full capacity since opening.

“Before CIC, there was a severe shortage of foster homes in our community and one in four children were placed in a home that was over capacity," said Ken Hair, CIC president/CEO. "This caused siblings to be separated, children to be placed out of their home county and moved from foster home to foster home, some as many as 10 times per year. Each family foster home we build has helped to bridge this shortage gap. Since February 2008, we’ve provided a home and care to over 600 children.”

The major construction donors for the Ty Pennington Home are Bill and Bobbi Pennington, Brian and Kim Pennington and the Pennington family. Additional donors have sponsored a room inside the home and there are still a few available.