Kettering woman starts support group for custodial grandparents

From the time her grandson, Matthew, the child of her youngest daughter, was a newborn, Schumacher was intimately involved in his life. She lived with the child, and provided food and payed the utility bills.

“I was a church secretary so my salary was very low, but I was the primary caretaker for my grandson until he was 10 years old,” she said.

That was the case until the day that her daughter moved a boyfriend in and told Schumacher to move out. Schumacher soon found out she had no legal rights to see her grandson. It was up to her daughter to allow her any visitation time and her daughter did not allow visits.

“It’s a sad story but my grief is what motivated me to start a support group for grandparents and other caregivers,” she said.

Schumacher initially worked with the pastor at Christ Church, where she worked to set up a support group for grandparents and other caregivers of children that were not their own.

“I was just about to die of grief,” Schumacher said. “I knew there were other grandparents out there raising their grandchildren and some that had them taken away and all could use the support of others in similar situations.”

They started the program in 2003 and advertised it in the church bulletin. Schumacher started reaching out to counselors, health care professionals and attorneys to come and speak to the group on a monthly basis. Two years ago, the group moved to Town and Country Shopping Center in Kettering, where they meet the first Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m.

Though Schumacher hasn’t seen her own now-adult grandson for nearly two years, she said it’s always a pleasure to hear other grandparents tell her they couldn’t have done it without the support of the program.

“I cry with them and laugh with them and not a week goes by when I don’t get a call from someone from out of state who doesn’t need help or advice,” she said.

Schumacher said the volunteer group always needs help, including speakers and people willing to help facilitate the program. For more information, call (937) 298-4720.