UMFS (United Methodist Family Services), part of the Richmond landscape since 1900, is now Shineforth Child & Family Services. As part of its 125th anniversary celebration, they are reintroducing themselves to the community with a new name and new logo.
Shineforth is the unwavering champion that every child deserves, and their vision is to strengthen humanity, one child at a time. They serve communities across the Commonwealth from eight locations (Fairfax, Farmville, Fredericksburg, Edinburg, Richmond, Lynchburg, South Hill, and Virginia Beach) and offer more than a dozen partnerships, programs, and services that focus on life skills, family support, adoption, foster care, K-12 education, and residential treatment for youth.
“We’ve had a change of name, not a change of heart,” said Shineforth President & CEO Nancy Toscano, Ph.D., LCSW. “Our organization has been evolving for more than 12 decades to meet the changing needs of families, and our goal has always been and always will be to help children and teens build bright futures.”
Shineforth has been at the same location on Broad Street in Richmond since their founding in 1900 by the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Church. They became the Methodist Children’s Home in the 1950s and in the 80s were renamed United Methodist Family Services. They abbreviated their name to UMFS in the early 2000s and rebranded to Shineforth on September 29, 2025.
“Thanks to the United Methodist Church, our organization has a fantastic legacy,” Toscano said. “And with the continued support of the UMC, and the generosity of other faith-based groups, donors, volunteers, and community partners, we’ll continue to illuminate paths forward for vulnerable children throughout Virginia.”
Learn more about Shineforth on their website.
