Ready for Life was founded by Rick and Nena Panza shown below with their son and daughters.

The Panza's have over fifteen years of experience with foster children and group home level children, office management and social work. They are committed to seeing the children in their communities succeed. Ready for Life embodies Rick and Nena's philosophy regarding the care and well-being of foster children. After years of working with dislaced foster and group home youth, they realized that traditional foster care was not always able to provide the children with adequate vocational, social and life skills necessary to make them ready for life after foster care ended. their immediate needs were often met, but their long-term  needs and goals were often left unattended. Our logo shows a butterfly emerging from a broken circle. It is a symbol of the transformation that can occur when children are placed in caring, structures, theraputic foster homes.

Ready for Life was established specifically to provide foster care children with the life skills they require along with safe havens for personal growth and physical care. Our mission is to touch and impact upon the individual lives of every child we meet. Be it big or small, that impact has a positive and enduring affect on their lives, and on the community in which they live. The more children are supported and guided, the better parents, workers and advocates they become. we don't just see to the immediate needs of the children; we provide them with the total care they require and deserve. It is our hope and prayer to see each of the children entrusted to us, placed in local homes and provided with opportunities by local supportive agencies and individuals so that they can become successful, empowered, healthy and happy.

Ready for Life is also dedicated to meeting the needs of the children at every stage within the foster care system from their initial placement with our agency and matching them with a good fit foster family, to providing them with education, social graces, and life skills that they can take with them into their communitites when they exit the system as productive, active, contributing adults...providing the communities with a lasting and authentic legacy.

The Children we Serve

The children come to our agency from several surrounding counties and various backgrounds. Generally, they are between the ages of 0-18 years, and can come from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. Some of them are at a standard treatment level and some are at an Intensive Treatment foster care level. Yet all of them have one thing in common: they need your love, compassion, understanding, and support.

To find out how you can help these children, please CLICK HERE.

Learn how to become a foster parent with our agency, donate funds or supplies, sponsor a child or an activity, or become a member of our team through employment, mentorship, or volunteering. The children are our future... and they need your help today.