As these parents work to remedy their personal issues, supervised visitation at Erma’s House allows the children to maintain a relationship with the parent who is no longer part of their household. Having an ongoing connection has generally been found to be an important factor in a child’s positive adjustment to family dissolution.
Erma’s House has been meeting this need in Montgomery County since 1997 and often has a waiting list of families in need of the service. Despite only having capacity to host visits two evenings and one afternoon per week, Erma’s House hosted 918 visits in 2024. Most visits last one to two hours, and a variety of age-appropriate toys, games and activities are available for families’ use.
Erma’s House staff and trained volunteers help families interact in a safe and appropriate manner in a neutral setting that’s focused on the children, with no interaction between the adult parents or guardians.
“We provide stability for children whose lives are full of chaos,” said Wahrhaftig. “We have separate entrances and even separate parking lots for the visiting parents and custodial parents. We also stagger their arrival and departure times so the parents don’t have to come in contact with one another.”
Visits are scheduled weekly, on Wednesday or Thursday evenings or Sunday afternoons. Consistently spending time with their parent at a welcoming, neutral location allows a child to anticipate the visits without the stress of worrying about what is going to happen, and to enjoy them in a safe, comfortable environment without having to be put in the middle of their parents’ conflict or other problems.
Donations of ‘wish list’ items are greatly appreciated.
Here’s what they can use
- Individually wrapped snacks, including microwave popcorn, goldfish crackers, cookies, fruit snacks, pretzels, chips
- Juice boxes
- Craft supplies: Play-Doh, paint, dry erase markers, coloring books, poster board
- Puzzles for young children (24 pieces or less)
- Games: Jenga, chess, checkers, wooden matching games, Go Fish, Uno, Spot it!
- Paper towels
- Liquid hand soap
- AA, AAA and C batteries
- Donations can be dropped off from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays at Catholic Social Services’ Center for Families, 1046 Brown Street in Dayton.
Other ways to help
With a small staff, Erma’s House relies on a crew of well-trained volunteers to monitor weekly visits between children and parents. You can help local children and families by volunteering as a visitation monitor. For more information about getting involved, call CSSMV Volunteer Coordinator Aliesha Caldwell at (937) 223-7217 ext. 1130.
Learn more about Erma’s House at cssmv.org/services/supervised-visitation.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Meredith Moss writes about Dayton-area nonprofit organizations and their specific needs. If your group has a wish list it would like to share with our readers, contact Meredith at meredith.moss@coxinc.com. Please include a daytime phone number and a photo that reflects your group’s mission.
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