Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village) announced that Jim and Cathi Nye of Ventura County will be recognized in Washington, D.C., by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute as 2017 Angels in Adoption Awardees for their outstanding work and advocacy on adoption and foster care issues. Brownley nominated the Nyes for this honor.
“Jim and Cathi Nye stepped up when foster youth in our community needed it the most,” said Congresswoman Brownley. “They have been some of the most compelling voices in Ventura County speaking up on behalf of our foster youth here. I cannot be more proud to see them recognized for their efforts.”
In 2000, while working as a special education teacher, Cathi was notified that one of her students, John, would be transferred from his foster care group home to one elsewhere in the county, moving him away from the only community he had ever known. Cathi and her husband, Jim, decided to go above and beyond to help John. They became his legal guardians and eventually adopted him as well as Frances, with whom he lived in the group home, so they could have a stable, loving home together. Since then, Cathi and Jim have been staunch advocates for foster youth and adoption issues.
John and Frances both have cerebral palsy and initially entered the foster care system due to their families’ inability to care for their disabilities.
Cathi Nye currently is a principal with the Ventura County Office of Education, serving in that position for the last 16 years. Before that she was a special education teacher with the Ventura Unified School District. Jim currently works as an In-Home Supportive Services care provider for persons with disabilities and medical issues. Before that, he served as a special education teacher in Ventura County for 10 years.
The Angels in Adoption program is the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s signature public awareness event that shines a spotlight on the unspoken heroes in our communities who have worked to enrich the lives of foster children and orphans in the United States and abroad.
Angels in Adoption Awardees are invited to Washington, D.C., for a gala and awards ceremony where they are recognized for their achievements. They also meet with their Congressional representatives to discuss adoption and foster care issues and ways to improve child welfare overall, as well as barriers to achieving that goal.
Photos of the Congresswoman and the Nye family are available here.
Issues: 115th Congress, Local Issues