Take a scroll through my Instagram and you’ll quickly notice a trend. My stories/highlights and grid are flooded with foster care quotes and kiddos with emojis or lines blocking their beautiful eyes or faces. It always makes me sad to cover them, but their identities are confidential and their stories are sacred. Loving children (and their families) from hard places is an honor and one of my greatest passions.
I believe wholeheartedly that EVERYONE can do SOMETHING for one of the 500,000+ children in foster care in the United States, but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to have the same role or responsibility. We have an incredible village of people surrounding us and supporting us through our foster care journey. What we do wouldn’t be possible without them… especially if they were all foster parents too! So you don’t feel called to be a foster parent? That’s okay! You don’t feel like you have the resources necessary to bring an additional child into your home? No worries! You don’t even know a foster family? Not a problem!
Here are some ways to get involved and be a part of that “absolutely fantastic, can’t live without” village in the world of foster care:
- Sign up to be a respite provider. A respite provider is similar to a licensed foster parent, but they provide short-term care for children. Respite may be used when a child comes into care (often at night) and social workers are working to locate a suitable foster family. Foster families may also request respite in order to have a brief rest period or if they travel and the child is not permitted to go with them (the reasons can vary greatly).
- Bring meals. When tiny one came to our home, a friend of mine set up a meal train and it was probably the most glorious thing ever in those newborn days, especially considering my husband was deployed and I had little dude to care for too.
- Collect new or gently used bags. luggage, clothing, hygiene products, etc. A lot of agencies will take donations of these items to give to children who need them. You can also check to see if you have a foster closet in your local area! Christmas is a wonderful time to donate. Our DSS agency hosted a party for the kiddos in care and it was such a joy seeing them receive wrapped presents. The best part is knowing that people in our community donated the gifts. There are also organizations like One Simple Wish who I heard about from Foster the Family. One Simple Wish helps make wishes and dreams of children in care come true.
- Babysit!! Date nights are still important to us and constantly changing our routines and family dynamic can make it a challenge to maintain time as a couple. If the parent is single (or the spouse is deployed or whatever other situation might arise), I can guarantee they will still appreciate the time alone. When Joe was deployed, I used to love grabbing a coffee and strolling around a plant nursery or Target. Most of the time I didn’t even buy anything. It was just nice to have time to myself.
- Offer to do chores or mundane tasks. It can be hard to get the dishes all loaded, the laundry cleaned, and the groceries purchased between home visits, visitation, court hearings, doctor appointments, therapy, etc.
- Volunteer. There are lots of organizations and other roles that serve foster children. Find one in your local area or become a GAL (Guardian-ad-litem).
- COFFEE. This is my life source and when people texted to ask for my coffee order or dropped it off, my heart swelled. It’s simple, but it meant a lot. Even Little Dude will tell you that Kate drinks coffee every single day.
- Pray for foster children, foster families, and biological families. Don’t pray against our children’s parents or their case plan. Pray for reunification, restoration, and healing in these families.
I could go on and on, but this post would be a mile long. If you have questions about other ways to get involved, please reach out! I’m a very open book and love to talk with people about foster care! Make sure to check back each week during May for a new foster care awareness post. I’m inviting you into the journey with me and sharing a big piece of my heart with you.
Kate Schultz Photography 