We're fiercely passionate about serving and advocating for vulnerable
children and families in crisis. We don’t just care for children, we care
about them, embracing them into environments in which they can live,
learn, and thrive.
There are more children in Northwest Florida who are waiting for a foster family than the number of available licensed foster homes. These kids are all too familiar with neglect, abuse, and abandonment. We are working to nurture these vulnerable children by embracing them, meeting them where they are, and loving them unconditionally. We provide homes with a system of support and care to help them flourish.
While faith serves as the core of our mission, we are driven by a desire to nurture, support, and prepare kids for productive, thriving futures. We believe we can break what often becomes a cycle of neglect and circumstance for many of the children in our care. Our caring and compassionate team works to change the trajectory of the lives of children in foster care by recruiting, training, licensing, and supporting foster parents in Northwest Florida. Embrace Florida Kids continually provides support and resources that position foster families for success.
In response to God’s Word, we embrace and nurture vulnerable children and families by providing homes, healing, and hope.
Our accreditation means that we are evaluated to meet or exceed best practice standards.
The FFTA provides current news and best practices that affect development, evaluation, recognition and funding to strengthen family-focused treatment services.
Embrace Florida Kids is a fully licensed child-placing agency.
NWF Health Network serves as the Network Management agency for child protection and behavioral health services in northwest Florida.
We reach beyond denominational barriers and state borders to connect our communities in Alabama and Northwest Florida. What started as an orphanage in Summerfield, Alabama, has since grown to serve thousands of children and families across two states.
As a faith-based agency and Methodist ministry, we bring to life the ongoing mission of caring for kids and families in crisis. Throughout our organization, we work toward the same mission of serving vulnerable populations of kids and families as we establish homes, healing, and hope.
We work with biological families, foster families, state agencies, and community partners to provide safe environments for kids.
We work tirelessly to ensure a sense of stability for children and families by assessing their needs and connecting them with those who can help meet those needs.
We work with both biological and foster families to equip them with the resources for success.
Our team works across the Florida Panhandle to provide programs and services to embrace children in foster care and families in crisis in Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, Okaloosa County, and Walton County.
Florida View Alabama Locations View Alabama LocationsOur founding ministry, Embrace Alabama Kids, also provides services spanning the state of Alabama. Learn more by visiting embracealkids.org.
Our team of committed leaders and staff all work to serve the greater mission of providing homes, healing, and hope to vulnerable children and struggling families on both ends of the neglect, abuse, and abandonment spectrum.
President & CEO
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Blake Horne is president and CEO of Embrace Alabama Kids. After earning his doctorate in marriage and family therapy from Florida State University and becoming a licensed therapist, he completed three years of postdoctoral study at the Georgetown Family Center in Washington, D.C. Dr. Horne served as the executive director of The Samaritan Counseling Center in Montgomery, Alabama, for 12 years. Although passionate about providing direct delivery of clinical services, Dr. Horne found his calling in leading organizations to serve their mission. In 2012, Dr. Horne joined the Embrace Alabama Kids team to help lead it in its mission to embrace and nurture vulnerable children and families by providing homes, healing, and hope. As President and CEO of Embrace Alabama Kids, Dr. Horne also provides leadership and guidance to the Embrace Florida Kids executive leadership team in Northwest Florida.
Director of Programs
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Coming soon…
Director of Programs
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Lori Foreman, LICSW, is the Director of Programs for Embrace Alabama Kids and oversees the agency’s foster care, family preservation, and school readiness programs, as well as Mary Ellen’s Hearth, which equips single mothers experiencing homelessness to live independently with their children. A graduate of Lurleen B. Wallace Community College and the University of Mobile, she earned a master’s in social work from Florida State University. A wife and mother, she has spent her entire career at Embrace Alabama Kids and has served in a variety of roles.
VP of Programs
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Janet Rawls, LICSW, is Vice President of Programs for Embrace Alabama Kids/United Methodist Children’s Home. She manages a broad spectrum of programs that provide safe, loving homes for vulnerable children and youth and equip at-risk families with the necessary skills and resources to remain together. A graduate of Millersville University, Janet earned a master’s degree in social work with a concentration in macro practices at Virginia Commonwealth University. In addition to her critical work at Embrace Alabama Kids, she has provided social work and counseling services through a variety of organizations including the Virginia Department of Corrections, the Mobile County Health Department, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Director of Development and Community Relations
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Ramsey Lawrence is the development director for Embrace Florida Kids. As a former educator, she has an innate concern for the overall wellbeing of children and funnels her advocacy into garnering support for vulnerable children and families in Northwest Florida. She taught children and youth ages 5-21 in exceptional student education in Walton County for four years. Having taught special education in both Georgia and Florida, Lawrence received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of West Florida as well as a master’s degree in exceptional student education from Georgia Southwestern State University and has taught special education in both states. Lawrence was born and raised in Quincy, Florida, but now resides in Santa Rosa Beach.
Senior Vice President of Operations
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Kristin Alberda is the Senior Vice President of Operations at Embrace Florida Kids. Kristin is tasked with ensuring that the babies, children, and youth in the faith-based agency’s care have safe, loving, secure homes. The daughter of a Methodist minister, she has always loved and supported Embrace Alabama Kids, the organization’s founding ministry, in which she also serves as Senior Vice President of Operations. She developed a deep professional respect for Embrace Florida Kids while working as an adoption counselor and foster care counselor before joining its staff in 2006. Kristin earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of West Florida and a master’s degree in social work from Florida State University; she has been a child welfare advocate for 21 years. She is a licensed and independent clinical social worker and maintains her child welfare supervisor and child welfare licensing professional certifications.
Program Manager,
Milton Girls Home
Alisha Clary is the program manager of the Milton Girls Home. A resident of the home herself for two years in high school, she now strives to be a stable force in the lives of girls in the home.
Alisha earned a degree in social work from the University of West Florida in May 2011. She manages a team of youth care workers who attend to the day-to-day needs of teen girls in foster care. Her team cooks and cleans; team members also drive the girls to after-school activities, court, or counseling sessions. They help with homework and attend school programs. Whether a girl’s needs are emotional, relational, or spiritual, youth care workers act as sounding boards and offer insight from their experience in overcoming obstacles that residents also will have to overcome.
Program Manager,
Embrace Family Preservation
Sandra Mims is a program manager for Embrace Family Preservation. She began volunteering her time at the Embrace Teen Center, the resources of which have now been transferred to the Embrace Higher Education program. Sandra was then employed with Embrace Florida Kids’ Family Outcome Centered Unified Service (FOCUS) Program, providing family preservation services to help families deal with their problems and learn new skills so that they can remain together as a family. Sandra has achieved her master’s degree in social work and is a program manager for the ministry in Crestview, Florida.
Sandra proudly served her country in the United States Air Force for 24 years. A New Orleans native, she is married to Ronald Mims, and they are the parents of one daughter and have two grandchildren. Sandra attends New Life Worship Center Church where she is a Deaconess and teaches toddlers and teenagers. She also serves in her community through her sorority, Zeta Phi Beta.
Program Manager,
Embrace Foster Care
Coming soon…
Program Manager,
Embrace Family Preservation
Edna Rivers is a program manager for Embrace Family Preservation. She and her staff work closely with families in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, ensuring that they are fully equipped to meet the many needs of their children and youth.
Edna is passionate about helping families to become self-sufficient. She has over 20 years of experience working in social work, specifically in the areas of prevention of child abuse and neglect, behavioral health, and education and employment programs. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of West Florida. When she is away from work, she enjoys painting, going to the beach, traveling, and exercising.
Program Manager, Pensacola Higher Education Home
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Coming soon…
Chief Financial Officer
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Amanda S. Freeman is chief financial officer of Embrace Florida Kids. She joined Embrace Alabama Kids as the Chief Financial Officer in 2019. Amanda served as the chief financial officer and vice president of operations for the Alabama Society of CPAs for 10 years. She also served as a senior accountant for four years with a public accounting firm, where she directed non-profit audits. She is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Global Management Accountant, and a graduate of Troy University with a bachelor’s degree and MBA, summa cum laude. Most importantly, Amanda has a heart for ministry to children and works to apply her considerable accounting skills in ways that bring hope and greater opportunity to the vulnerable children and families we serve.
Sr. VP of External Affairs
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Rebecca Morris is the Senior Vice President of External Affairs for Embrace Alabama Kids and Embrace Florida Kids and loves sharing the stories of the children, youth and families whose lives have been changed by the ministry.
An accomplished speaker, she has introduced Embrace Alabama/Florida kids to Sunday School classes, congregations, civic organizations and audiences of numerous television and radio shows, both locally and nationally. After earning a bachelor’s degree in human environmental sciences from the University of Alabama, Rebecca previously served in community relations for the Alabama Hospital Association. At Embrace Alabama Kids and Embrace Florida Kids, she oversees church and donor relations, special events, marketing and public relations. One of her favorite parts of the job, however, is getting to know and mentor the youth during regular visits to ministry locations and serving alongside them during mission trips.
Rebecca is a native of Montgomery but has called Birmingham home for 20+ years. The Morris Family consider Embrace Alabama Kids to be a family ministry.
Director of Facilities and Fleet
Director of Quality Assurance
Embrace Florida Kids is led by an independent, Florida-based volunteer board. These dedicated members provide advisory leadership to our executive team.
