On December 13, 2010, I had the opportunity to visit and tour Erma’s House, a Family Visitation Center, located at 1046 Brown Street, Dayton, Ohio. I had the privilege to meet with Peggy Seboldt, Director of Erma’s House, and Shannon Wahrhaftig, Co-Program Coordinator. During the meeting and tour of the facility, it was so very apparent to me that both employees are totally dedicated to the mission of the Visitation Center and that both are committed to their work at the Center.
History:
Erma’s House opened its doors in 1997 and has been providing visitation services to the community for nearly fourteen (14) years. The Visitation Center’s name is in memory and recognition of Erma Bombeck, a native of Dayton, Ohio, and a well-known, respected, and prolific writer of family-oriented books, magazine articles, and columns. Funding for the Center is dependent upon the Montgomery County Human Services Levy. Additional funds are obtained from the annual Pat Rupp Golf Tournament and various charitable contributions.
Mission Statement of Erma’s House:
To assist and support the children and families of Montgomery County who have been affected by divorce, separation, abuse, … Read More... “Erma’s House – Dayton’s Supervised Family Visitation Center”
“Wait a minute! Did I read that right? Marriage ‘building’ advice and links to what sounds like a marriage ‘strengthening’ organization on a Divorce Attorney’s website…what’s up with that?” Those thoughts and questions may have run through your mind as you have explored our law firm’s blog and website, but you read correctly. The desire to help strengthen marriages and prevent divorce, if at all possible, may be unusual in our industry, but saving marriages and strengthening families is good for society! To that end, our website, as well as our Ohio Family Law Blog, provides people with links to pro-family organizations like Marriage Works! Ohio, an organization whose mission is helping couples strengthen their relationships.
In the midst of an intense discussion or at the end of a difficult day, we don’t always say the right things to our children. But what we say can make a big impact, good or bad.
Joel Goodman of the Humor Project in Saratoga Springs, New York, says, “Humor is what lubricates life.” Humor can help you deal with all the stressors in your life. Humor cannot erase the situation, but it can take the sting out of many things, thus reducing their negative impact. In order for humor to be curative in your life, you need to find your own laugh button. Remember, divorce is one part of your life, don’t make it your whole life!
On February 6, 2010, I posted an article entitled, 
The topic for this Family Blog Article is one that is I like to use and one that I highly recommend to clients and to other practitioners. A four (4) way settlement conference is a meeting or conference attended by both parties (Husband and Wife) and their respective attorneys. The meeting generally takes place at one of the attorney’s offices but it could be held at an absolutely neutral location such as the Bar Association, a local library, or a church having meeting rooms available for the public. The meetings can take place during normal business hours but can also be held during evening or weekend hours as no one from the Court needs to be present and no one from the Court needs to oversee or supervise the conference. Therefore, the scheduling of settlement conferences can be done to accommodate each of the parties’ schedules and their respective attorneys’ schedules.
The National Runaway Switchboard reports that between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away each year. It also reports that there has been “a significant increase in the number of crisis calls identifying abuse or neglect as a reason for the call, with abuse calls up 33 percent and neglect calls up 54 percent between 2005-2008″ (National Runaway Switchboard Crisis Caller Trends, 2009, p. 2).