Real West Virginian of the Week: Jennifer Lily helps children and families find support
By Hannah Yost, RealWV
LEWISBURG, W.Va. — For Jennifer Lily, child welfare is not just a career. It is a calling that has shaped her work, her home, and the way she sees her community.
Lily, 37, has lived in Lewisburg since she was 9 months old. After college, she did not expect to build a career in child welfare. She studied biology at Cedarville University and originally planned to become a pediatrician. Eventually, she realized that was not the path she wanted to take. After finishing her degree, she got a job at a children’s shelter, now located in Rupert.
That job changed the direction of her life.
“I felt a belonging there and felt a connection to the kids that have had it rough,” Lily said.
Working with children who had experienced trauma helped Lily understand that difficult behaviors often come from painful experiences, instability, and a lack of support.
“The reason these kids can have bad behaviors is because they’ve been mistreated a lot in their lives, and no one has taught them how to deal with that,” Lily said.
Today, Lily works with the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia in Lewisburg as a permanency supervisor. In that role, she supervises the foster care program, which includes home-finding and case management.
The home-finding side focuses on finding foster homes and guiding prospective foster parents through the licensing process, including training, home visits, and home inspections. Once a child is placed in a foster home, the case management side helps make sure that child has what they need.
Lily said case managers and social workers visit children in foster homes at least twice a month and also meet with children one-on-one to make sure they are safe, supported, and doing well.
“Most people have heard stories about horrible foster homes, but the vast majority of our foster parents are wonderful,” Lily said. “We need a layer of supervision to keep kids safe.”
In Lewisburg and the surrounding area, Children’s Home Society provides several programs, including the emergency children’s shelter, foster care services, and an independent living program for young people who age out of foster care without reunification or adoption.
The independent living program helps young adults establish roots and gain life skills as they move into adulthood. That can include support with housing, employment, household needs, and other practical resources that can become barriers without help.
For Lily, the biggest local need is simple: more foster homes.
Lily said she wishes more people understood that children in foster care are still just children. They may have experienced difficult things, but they want many of the same things all children want.
“They are just kids,” Lily said. “They want stability, love, and connection.”
That support can also extend to biological families. Whenever appropriate, Lily said Children’s Home Society supervises visits between children and their families, creating opportunities to build positive relationships with parents as well.
That support is especially important because the goal of foster care is often reunification, as long as biological parents still have their rights. Lily said foster parents are asked to support that plan, even when it is emotionally difficult.
“Foster care isn’t just about caring for children — it’s also about helping families work toward reunification whenever it can be done safely,” Lily said.
Lily understands foster care not only through her work, but through her own life. She is also a single foster parent.
She said fostering had been something she wanted to do for a long time. When she worked at the shelter, her schedule was not conducive to fostering. Later, when her current job became available, Lily realized the timing was right.
“There were so many kids at the shelter that weren’t bad kids, who were good kids who had a rough life,” Lily said. “There were so many times that I was like, ‘I want to take them home with me.’”
Fostering, she said, has changed her life in almost every possible way.
“You can be ready for something mentally, but not be prepared for the reality of it,” Lily said. “Life isn’t just about you.”
For those who feel drawn to foster care but are unsure whether they are qualified, Lily’s advice is to reach out.
“Call us and talk to us,” she said. “If you’re not sure, we’re not scary to talk to.”
She also wants people to know that single people can foster.
“I’m not going to act like it’s easy, but it’s doable,” Lily said.
For those who cannot foster or adopt right now, Lily said there are still many ways to help.
At the Lewisburg site, Children’s Home Society has a community closet, located in the basement. It is available to foster families and community members who are in need. The organization accepts donations of new clothing, new car seats, pack and plays, bassinets, cribs, baby bathtubs, diapers, wipes, household items, kitchen supplies, grocery gift cards, small appliances, and gently used TVs. Lily said larger diaper sizes, especially size 3 and up, are often needed.
For Lily, the work is about more than a program or a job title. It is about helping children who have experienced instability find safety, support, and people who are willing to show up for them.
They are children who need homes. They are children who need guidance. They are children who need adults willing to care, encourage, advocate, and stay steady.
In Lewisburg, Lily is one of those adults.
Through her work with Children’s Home Society and her own life as a foster parent, she is helping build the kind of community where children and families have a better chance to heal, grow, and belong.
Contact information for the Children’s Home Society can be found here.
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