"bE KIND WHENEVER POSSIBLE AND KNOW..... THAT IT IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE"
Our Mission and What We Do
Their Story is Our Story
Foster Care Help began when we were active Foster Parents ourselves.
In networking with many other Foster Care Families, and Communities,
we identified a hole in the system that was un-recognized and un-supported.
Contrary to popular belief, while they do deeply care, Foster Care Agencies, State and Local Government do not offer the type of support that was and is missing, This is where our organization, Foster Care Help comes in to assist.
The vast majority of Foster Providers cannot spend several hundred dollars when they receive a short notice child placement in their home, especially not knowing whether it will be a day, a few days, a month or months.
Foster Care Placements are also very difficult to prepare for ahead of time, there are many unknowns, and Foster Care Providers may often care for 5 or more different new child placements in a single month, and each placement they receive being various ages, genders, having unique or specialized needs.
Imagine yourself, willing to become a Foster Care Provider, knowing that at any given moment, suddenly and without notice, You find yourself accepting a child into your home on a sometimes an hour notice or less. These sudden placement(s) could be a single child, or an entire family sibling group of 5 !
As a Foster Care Provider, within 2 hours or less of receiving a phone call, suddenly You have new children in your home and are focused on trying to lessen the trauma of this event on the child / children knowing that what they have just went through in the last few hours is already too heavy for them to carry. They arrive to your home, everyone is introduced, you show them around your home and do your very best to comfort them. You prepare a meal and sit down together, in an incredibly awkward initial setting getting to know them and their needs so that you can attempt to provide the very best care for them possible during this transition into the unknown for them, and for yourself, as things settle down you begin to see signs of these young people relaxing as much as they can. You realize that they were brought to you with a single small trash bag of personal items. In that bag is everything they have and usually nothing that they are soon going to need. The children have not been able to think far enough into the future to realize they have bed time needs, clothing, tooth brushes, or anything they are going to need very soon.
Soon, it is bedtime, your Foster Child/Children realize that they need night time clothing, underwear, tooth brushes, socks, and just very personal hygiene items. And what to most of us doesn't seem like a big deal, to the child that has been attempting on the outside to be strong "hiding their feelings" in what they have just wen through, a sudden abrupt trauma of being placed into a strangers home, this one single thing of realizing you do not have your own clothing or necessities, creates an entirely new level of stress to them.
Imagine, asking a stranger that you just met minutes ago,
in this incredibly awkward scenario already, for something, for anything.
Asking You for anything.....It's the last thing they want to, or mentally CAN do.
Most often instead of asking you for help, these children will avoid the conversation at all costs, hide and just go without, to them that is less painful than having to ask someone you just met for something you need.
Foster Care Help's Mission is to have in "Constant Ready" status,
these items that we can deliver to the Foster Home Quickly and Discreetly
and on very short notice once we are made aware of their specific needs.
While it may not seem like much, removing this single stress from the Foster Parents, and specifically the Foster Children is very POWERFUL and shields them from yet another source of pain or dis-comfort in their transitional position(s) as a Foster Child Placement and Foster Care Providers.
Items We Currently Need
Below Is a Partial Listing of Items We Are Always In Need Of:
CLOTHING
"New" or "Like New" Condition
All Sizes and Both Male and Female
Jeans
T-Shirts
Pants
Sweatshirts and Sweatpants
Socks - *New Only*
Underwear - *New Only*
Gloves
Hats
Jackets
Coats
Shoes
Boots
Dress Shirts
Pajamas
Personal Hygiene Items
All Hygiene Items Must Be Factory Sealed and "NEW ONLY"
Deodorant
Body Wash
Bar Soap
Feminine Hygiene Items
Curling Irons
Blow Dryers
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Laundry Detergent
Laundry Softener
Hair Brushes
Infant and Baby Needs
Diapers
Wipes
Bottles
Pacifiers
Blankets
Clothing of All Types
Onesies
Crib Sheets
Diaper Bags
Strollers
Car Seats
Entertainment
Headphones
Activity Books (All Ages)
Pens
Pencils
Crayons
Coloring Books
Board Games
Video Games / Video Game Systems
Personal Notebooks / Journals
Tablets
Laptops
School Supplies
Pens
Pencils
Notebooks
Notebook Paper
Colored Pencils
Folders / Binders
Glue Sticks
Backpacks
Toys
NO STUFFED ANIMALS UNLESS FACTORY SEALED and Un-OPENED PLEASE
All Toy Items Must Be NEW or "LIKE NEW" Condition
Toys of All Kinds and All Age Groups
Miscellaneous items - "NEW" or "LIKE NEW" Condition
Luggage - We Often See Children with nothing but Wal-Mart Bags
Carrying their personal belongings from place to place
Large Plastic Storage Containers - For Clothing Sorting and Storage
Gift Cards - Places to Go, or Things to Do, that will help form a bond between the Foster Care Givers and the Fostered Children. Being stuck in the house is often one of the biggest complaints we hear from children in placement.
Time - Donate Your Time Helping Distribute Donated Items
Prayer - Please Pray for the Foster Care Help Program(s) to be a source of light for those in need of light. For the Foster Parents receiving donated items to have at least a few of the stressors they normally feel with a new foster child, be lifted from them, so that they can become amazing care takers of those they are providing care for. For the children, on the receiving end of what we distribute to come to know Jesus and realize that random acts of kindness that they see through us here, are not as random as they once thought. Finally, the guidance and wisdom for leadership, and volunteers in daily operations and logistics here at Foster Care Help, to not miss the opportunity to truly serve others and to always conduct themselves in a way that pleases God, always.