Meet Our Staff

Bernadette Cole, LMSW

Social Worker

Role and Responsibility:
My name is Bernadette and I am a social worker in the Houston area. I work with IFS families during the home study and post placement process on their adoption journey. During my 30+ years in child placement I have been a part of over 1000 children finding permanent, loving homes. It’s not a job, it’s a joy! And, for me, there is no better work in the world.

Family:
I met my husband, Larry, at a USO dance at the YMCA in New York City (you know, the one made famous in that Village People song!). He asked me to marry him that very night, and I said yes, and here we are many, many years later, a Connecticut Yankee and a Texan, with three amazing children and four wonderful grandchildren.

With IFS Since: 2010

Little Known Facts About Me:
With hazel eyes and sandy hair you wouldn’t guess that I am a second generation Italian-American. I love the holidays and putting an Italian spin on all the traditional American meals. After all, it’s not Thanksgiving unless there’s a first course of lasagna followed by turkey, pumpkin pie and cannoli!

I grew up in a big, and I mean huge, Italian family in “The Cove,” a shoreline neighborhood in New Haven, Connecticut so I never want to be too far from the sea. I love fishing, beachcombing, reading, canning preserves, photography, the New York Yankees and the University of Connecticut Huskies but not necessarily in that order!

Contact Information: bernadette@ifservices.org