Ways We Serve : A reminder of our mission!

Our goal is far from simple:  To improve the experiences and outcomes for kids in foster care by ensuring they can be placed with caring and well-equipped (both physically & emotionally) foster families. 

Three ways we do this: 

Enlighten 

With about 400,000 kids in foster care, there are half as many licensed foster homes to care for them. The frustrations of navigating an overburdened child-welfare system can derail even the most sincere families.  We educate our community on the need for foster parents and are there for them when they sign up. 

Encourage

Half of new foster families quit in the first year, but we’ve seen that change in our community.  Fostering is too hard to do alone and when foster parents quit, it is the vulnerable kids who fall into the gap. Our support group, online community, date nights, and family events ensure that foster parents know other foster parents and people in their community who care about them and are offered help and spaces they feel safe to ask for help.    

Equip

Foster children and foster parents in our community can ask for what they need!  Every child in care has a personalized duffel bag with his/her name, can take lessons, go to camp and participate in normal childhood activities as well as have an incredible birthday memory thanks to our scholarship programs.  Foster parents can visit our two resource centers and find all they need for children they serve.  

“If foster parents are lucky they get a few hours to prepare to greet new foster placements. Usually those children come with nothing but the clothes on their backs and sometimes not even shoes! The foster resource centers give me a place to run where I can grab essentials like socks and undergarments to get us through those first nights. My  kids can then come and pick out a variety of clothes they’ll like and can use. It is so fun to see the joy on a child’s face as they find the right outfit. A highlight at an otherwise difficult time,”  says Amy, Oconee foster mom. 

We spent about $20,000 last year ensuring foster parents and foster children in three Upstate counties have all that they need including hundreds of beds, car seats, strollers, and everything from wheelchair hitches to fire alarms needed to pass inspections to meet kids’ needs. 

You can also be part of equipping our centers by donating gently used clothing & shoes as well as diapers, wipes, socks, and underwear.

Thanks for considering donating! We love to stay ready for children entering foster care. We have a gray donation box with our logo sign on it @ the brick home just before at Lifepoint Church in Seneca, 100 Bruce Blvd, and also beside Crosspoint Church (right side of shopping center) in Clemson.

We appreciate your help!