Spokane visionary, foster advocate Janet Mann posthumously wins YWCA’s Lifetime Achievement Award
Janet Mann lived her life choosing to see the depths of a person’s soul.
She invested in children’s’ futures, spent time molding and encouraging parents, tried to heal the broken and let herself be vulnerable with the people who needed it most, her family told an audience on Friday.
“Janet’s life and work were grounded in a sense of commonalty of the human experience,” her husband of 55 years, Paul Mann, told the crowd. “That we are all in this together.”
The YWCA of Spokane issued Janet the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the Spokane Convention Center during the Women of Achievement Awards, a ceremony meant to honor local women for their outstanding leadership.
Janet was killed last summer in downtown Spokane during a hit-and-run while on her way to meet her grandson for lunch. Gary Burns received a prison sentence of community service for her death, largely because Janet’s family believed she would “be the first” to forgive him, her husband said at the time.
Her life as a local visionary and advocate was unplanned, Paul said Friday. It all began when she was working as a paralegal, took a hiatus and started working at Vanessa Behan, a place for parents who are struggling or in crisis to temporarily bring their children. She came home and said, “We need to get licensed as foster parents.”
Janet cared for around 120 children in a stint as a foster parent with her husband. The couple also created the nonprofit Children’s Ark in 1995 and ran it out of a renovated historic home in Browne’s Addition. The program, which provided services for at-risk families, ran until 2009.
Her family said Janet was so “struck” by a holistic need for a child to be safe, but also heal through the value of relationships, “and that’s what the Ark was.”
“At her memorial last summer, we had people who had been children at the Ark,” Paul said. “Some of them had continued a relationship with Janet for 30 years. They were lasting.”
The experience led Janet to co-author a book in 2017 with Gonzaga University Developmental Psychology Professor Molly Kretchmar-Hendricks, “Creating Compassionate Foster Care: Lessons of Hope for Children and Families in Crisis.” The book draws from real foster care situations and childhood attachment research to help foster caregivers and professionals better respond to the complex needs of children and parents in crisis.
A former foster child in the couple’s care, who identified herself only as Heather, shared a video for the ceremony Friday in which she said Janet always made her feel seen and listened to.
“Janet wasn’t just my foster mom – she was my friend, my advocate and one of the most important people in my life,” Heather said. “Her love and guidance shaped me in ways I’ll carry forever.”
Janet and Paul were two of the primary owners who revitalized the Ridpath Club Apartments at 515 W. Sprague Ave. They lived on the top floor of the building, knew everyone by name and would even do Thanksgiving dinners for the tenants. The 78-year-old was also very active, according to her family. She’d run or walk everywhere, ride her bike 20 miles a day, do yoga and meditate.
Amy Knapton Vega, the executive director of Vanessa Behan, called Janet “a force” who changed lives for the better.
During her award ceremony, Paul read aloud a piece from the book he felt honored her mission in the right way: “We are all more alike than different.”