This couple’s story with Child & Family begins when Laura Yalanis joined the board in 2010. She accepted the position because it fit well with her history and background. Laura grew up in a foster home, a friend welcomed her and her two brothers, and became their family. “The fabric of family doesn’t just have to be blood relatives,” she says.
In 2011, Chris’s involvement with Child & Family intersected with Laura’s when he began work as investment manager and financial advisor to the agency. Coming from a challenged home as well, he says, “We get it, we were attracted to the mission for that reason. We very much believe in everything Child & Family is doing and we want to support it.”
Laura feels strongly about Child & Family’s work to keep families together as well as to help families that are apart, acknowledging that sometimes a family can’t stay together.
“It’s important to me, that Child & Family doesn’t just focus on traditional families, and that they work not only with the child, but with parents, with the whole family.”
Modestly, Chris explains that the couple’s interactions with the agency are more at the “corporate level” than in a hands-on capacity. He says admiringly of volunteers, “they put in their very direct energy”, though, both he and Laura give their time by serving on committees, supporting events, and introducing others to Child & Family.
Chris and Laura Yalanis are true Child & Family fans sharing their time and talents to help the agency at a strategic level and in ways that are integral to the organization being able to operate and achieve its vision.