09/07/2026
Dear Kids Cove Friends and Supporters,
I wanted to take some time to give you an update on what is happening with Kids Cove. To do that, I also need to share a little about what has been happening with our family, because the two have been closely connected.
This year was supposed to be about growth and development—finding a sustainable way to operate Kids Cove that required less time constantly trying to raise support and more time actually doing the work.
I have always envisioned Kids Cove eventually operating primarily from income generated through businesses rather than depending entirely on donors. Over the last several years, I have worked hard to build a sustainable donor base, but unfortunately, we have never been able to get that support to the level needed to operate the program we originally envisioned.
What HAS worked is the bakery.
It isn't a huge business, but it generates around $35,000 a year, and that has given us the foundation for a completely different—and much more sustainable—vision for Kids Cove.
But before I explain where we are headed, I need to explain what has happened with our family.
Back in April, Kate seriously injured the meniscus in her knee. What we originally thought would be a short recovery turned into weeks of pain, medication and eventually surgery in June.
She attempted to return to work, but her recovery was much more difficult than expected.
Then came July 11—a day our family will never forget.
Kate experienced a serious mental health crisis. After everything she had been through physically and emotionally, the decision was made for her to receive intensive treatment in Florida. She spent approximately 30 days receiving care and returned home August 11.
I thought we were finally out of the woods.
Unfortunately, we weren't.
During all of this, another problem had been growing: our finances.
Kate had exhausted her available time off, leaving our family trying to survive primarily on my approximately $2,000 monthly paycheck from Kids Cove, which is funded through my work at the bakery. We had depended on roughly another $3,200 a month from her income to make our household work.
Between the financial pressure, her continued recovery and other family circumstances, Kate ultimately made the decision to return to California to live with her parents for the time being, The goal get life stable here so she can come home and successfully continue her recover.
Meanwhile, my goal has been very simple:
Eliminate my paycheck from Kids Cove.
I have spent months trying to accomplish that.
I have applied for job after job and received rejection after rejection. At 47 years old, I have spent virtually my entire adult life self-employed and running small businesses. I even reached out to placement agencies looking for help transitioning into traditional employment and was basically told they didn't know where to place me.
So I tried something completely different.
I obtained my life insurance license and joined a commission-based insurance agency. I spent the month of July trying to make it work, but the "qualified leads" I had been promised turned out to be cold leads generated through practices I personally wasn't comfortable with.
I walked away.
Since then, I have continued applying with companies across Missouri for positions offering a base salary plus commission, along with other employment opportunities. So far, nothing has worked out.
I have spent this entire summer trying to solve one basic problem:
How do I support my family without Kids Cove having to support me?
We even put our lake home up for sale. We received a contract, but it eventually fell through. In reality, the sale would have done little more than pay off the house anyway.
Then a good friend in real estate suggested something I hadn't seriously considered before:
Vacation rentals.
He connected me with someone experienced in the industry, and we now have a plan to turn our home into a short-term vacation rental.
For the last couple of weeks, I have been cleaning out five years of our family's life from this house—including belongings left behind over the years by foster children who have been part of our home.
I think we may have single-handedly stocked one of the thrift stores we donated to. 🙂
It has been exhausting, emotional and, at times, overwhelming.
But there is finally a path forward.
SO WHAT HAPPENS TO KIDS COVE?
This is where I actually have some good news.
With the help of our board, we have developed a new vision for Kids Cove.
Kids Cove is going to become a camp program serving foster, adoptive and kinship families.
Our vision includes weekend camp programs during the spring and fall, two weeks of camp programming during the summer, and something I am particularly excited about—a week specifically for the biological children of foster parents.
Those kids live the foster-care journey too.
They share their parents. They share their homes. They experience children coming and going. They make sacrifices that most people never see.
We want to give them an opportunity to spend time with other kids who understand what it means to be a "bio kid" in a foster family.
This new model changes everything financially.
The original vision for Kids Cove could have required $150,000–$200,000 every year to operate at the level we hoped to reach.
The camp model could potentially operate for around $40,000 a year, with much of that money going directly toward renting established camp facilities and providing programming for children.
It also allows Kids Cove to serve families across Missouri without the enormous expense of purchasing, renting and maintaining multiple homes.
That is a vision I believe we can actually sustain.
But I need to be transparent about something else.
I cannot do this alone.
At this point, we do not have a firm launch date for the new camp program. Before we announce one, we need volunteers and people who catch this vision and are willing to help make it happen.
I also have to get our family's immediate situation stabilized.
AND THAT IS WHERE I AM ASKING FOR HELP.
Kids Cove currently has approximately $3,500 in debt that needs to be taken care of.
Historically, when Kids Cove came up short, our family simply covered the difference ourselves.
At this point, I can't do that anymore.
I could also personally use some willing hands to help me finish getting this very large house cleaned out and ready for the fall vacation-rental season.
Getting this house operating as a vacation rental could be one of the biggest pieces of making Kids Cove sustainable.
Why?
Because if the rental income can replace the paycheck I currently receive from Kids Cove, Kids Cove will no longer need to pay me.
That means the money generated by the bakery, along with fundraising and donations, can go into the PROGRAM—not toward supporting my family.
That has been my goal all along.
So today I'm asking our community for three things:
1. VOLUNTEERS
If you believe in this new camp vision and want to help us build it, we need you. We need people who can help organize, plan, fundraise, work with children, recruit volunteers and help turn an idea into a functioning statewide program.
2. SOME HELP AT THE HOUSE
If you're local and willing to spend a few hours cleaning, hauling, repairing, organizing or helping get this house ready for guests, I could desperately use some hands.
3. FINANCIAL SUPPORT
If you're in a position to help Kids Cove eliminate the approximately $3,500 in outstanding debt and give this new model a clean start, your support would mean more than I can express.
This has not been the year I expected.
There have been moments this summer when I genuinely didn't know what Kids Cove—or our family's future—was going to look like.
But I haven't given up.
The mission hasn't changed.
The method has.
Instead of trying to maintain expensive houses, we can rent established camp facilities when we need them.
Instead of needing $150,000–$200,000 every year, we can build something that may operate on approximately $40,000.
Instead of spending our energy keeping buildings running, we can spend it serving kids and families.
And if I can successfully transition our household away from depending on my Kids Cove salary, the bakery can become what I always hoped it would be:
A business that helps fund the mission.
So that's where we are.
It's messy. It's not the update I thought I would be writing this year. But there is still a path forward, and I believe there is still a tremendous amount of good Kids Cove can do.
If you've ever wanted to get involved, now is the time.
Send us a message. Volunteer. Share this post. Give if you're able. Or simply help us connect with someone who might catch the vision.
We need people willing to help us turn this ship around and build the next chapter of Kids Cove.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us, prayed for us, volunteered, donated, bought something from the bakery, encouraged us, or simply believed that this work matters.
We're still here.
And we're going to keep moving forward.
— James
