The Puzzles Project

09/14/2026

September is National Kinship Care Month!

Kinship care keeps children connected to family - grandparents, aunts, uncles, and relatives who step up when a child needs a safe place to land. This also includes fictive kin, or close family friends, neighbors, coaches, teachers or others who may not be related by blood but by close bonds and relationships.

Blueprints offers kinship support services in Wood County, West Virginia to help these families along the way.

For children who don't have family who can step in, we need loving foster homes ready to offer stability and support-even for just a season.

Could you be that family, or know one who needs support? Reach out to learn more!

(304)422-3159
myblueprints.org

- .org "
Kinship Care Month Facebook.png

08/18/2026

The Church has more empty bedrooms than the system has foster homes.

Sit with that for a minute.

Children are sleeping in offices because there is nowhere for them to go. Teenagers are waiting longer because nobody wants the hard ages. Foster families are drowning because there aren’t enough people willing to step in beside them.

And meanwhile, churches are full every Sunday.

We sing about surrender.
We preach about sacrifice.
We raise our hands and tell Jesus, “Here I am. Send me.”

But send me where?

Because there are vulnerable children right outside our doors, and somehow we have convinced ourselves that caring about them is the same thing as caring for them.

It isn’t.

James 1:27 doesn’t give the Church a suggestion. Caring for orphans and widows in their distress is part of what Scripture calls pure religion.

No, everyone is not called to foster.

But I believe every Christian is called to do something.

Open your home.
Provide respite.
Bring the meal.
Babysit the kids.
Mentor the teenager.
Support the family fighting for reunification.
Give financially.
Show up for the foster family who hasn’t had a break in six months.

Do something.

Because comfortable Christianity was never what Jesus called us to.

Following Jesus costs something.

It interrupts schedules.
It changes plans.
It makes room at tables.
Sometimes it gives up the guest room.
Sometimes it means loving people whose lives are complicated and messy and nothing like ours.

We cannot keep building beautiful churches while children in our communities have nowhere to sleep.

We cannot keep singing about loving like Jesus while expecting somebody else to do the uncomfortable parts.

And we cannot keep asking God to send more workers while refusing to move when He points at us.

Church, we can do better than this.

We HAVE to do better than this.

The question isn’t whether every Christian should become a foster parent.

The question is whether the Church is willing to be inconvenienced for the children Jesus told us not to overlook.

Because they should never have to wonder where the Church is.

We should already be there.

07/18/2026

https://youtu.be/9knC3kLOFdE?is=CnVYLm-VozJZCG9l

ABC News' Alex Presha talks to current and former foster youth abou...

07/03/2026

A single photo held 30 years of hope.

Ginger Cawley never forgot the foster family who gave her safety, stability, and belonging when she was 6 years old. For decades, she carried one photo as a reminder of what it felt like to be loved and protected.

This story is such a powerful reminder: foster care can leave a lasting impact far beyond a placement.

Foster parents may only be part of a child’s life for a season, but the love, consistency and belonging they offer can stay with them forever.

Thank you, Ginger, for sharing your story. And thank you to every foster family helping children experience safety, connection and hope. 💙

Full story ➡️ https://www.today.com/parents/family/foster-care-reunion-facebook-ginger-cawley-story-rcna261493

05/30/2026

Some children are drowning while adults debate swimming lessons.

Sit with that for a minute.

Because that’s what foster care feels like sometimes.

A child is actively suffering.

Right now.

Not someday.
Not hypothetically.
Not if things get worse.

Right now.

They’re hungry.
They’re terrified.
They’re being neglected.
They’re being abused.
They’re carrying trauma that would crush most adults.

And instead of pulling them out of the water, everyone gathers around the edge of the pool to discuss possibilities.

Maybe things will improve.

Maybe this time will be different.

Maybe they just need more services.

Maybe they need another chance.

Maybe.
Maybe.
Maybe.

Meanwhile the child is still drowning.

And that’s the part that makes me angry.

Because children live in the present.

They don’t get their childhood back if adults eventually figure it out.

They don’t get those years returned.

They don’t get a refund on the fear.
The trauma.
The instability.

Every month feels different when you’re five.

Every year matters when you’re ten.

Every extension.
Every delay.
Every “let’s wait and see.”

A child lives every second of it.

I think sometimes we’ve become so focused on adult potential that we’ve forgotten the reality sitting right in front of us.

Children cannot survive on promises.

They cannot be fed by intentions.

They cannot be protected by hope alone.

At some point, somebody has to stop discussing the swimming lessons and notice the child going under.

Because while adults are debating what could happen tomorrow…

Children are living what is happening today.

And today’s child matters too.

05/22/2026

There are approximately 300,000 churches in the U.S. and approximately 330,000 youth in foster care.

If just two families from each church fostered, there would be more than enough homes for youth in care. ⛪️

Even if you can't foster, there are so many ways to support our mission to help kids in care find homes and get the support they need. Visit our website or scroll our page to learn more! 💙

🔗 americaskidsbelong.org

05/02/2026

04/07/2026

Lewis County delegate says there remains a crisis and it's time to get back to work.