Foster care is something that has always held a special place in my heart. There are a ton of different reasons children can need temporary or long term foster care.
My husband and I have talked for a long time about opening our home to foster. Currently, we have chosen to put that on the back burner for now.
We still felt the need to serve the foster children in our area. For me, these children are OUR children and they are a part of our community. It is our job to help anyway we can.
I understand that everyone can’t be a foster parent today, but there are ways you can help serve. Here are a few:
- Find a local foster parent in your neighborhood, at your child’s school or at your church. Offer to babysit, provide meals or offer to grab coffee and listen. Fostering is a roller coaster and there are a lot of emotions that sometimes need to be released in a safe place.
- Reach out to your local Department of Family Services. Find out what things are needed locally. You could donate the items yourself or organize a group to get foster parents materials that are needed.
- You can also become a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate). Volunteers are appointed by judges to advocate for children in foster care. This is a 5-8 hours per month commitment and you will only handle one foster case at a time. Your role is to advocate for the children in each situation.
- Organize meal trains that will provide meals for foster families.
- Deliver care packages when a family gets a new placement. A lot of times, children are sent with just the clothes on their backs. It would be extremely helpful to get a care packaged filled with items for their child.
There are many ways that you can help over and beyond what is listed here. I want to ask you to do something … these are OUR children. We are here to take care of our community, I encourage you to find a place in your community and show love.
