Fostering Faithfully is a non-profit organization devoted to meeting a desperate need in our community by finding foster homes, and then encouraging, equipping, and connecting them through a strong community network. WHAT WE DO (and hope to do as we grow!)
Fostering Faithfully Support Group: We facilitate a monthly support group meeting to connect and encourage seasoned foster families, new foster parents, and those licensing from all over the county at Foothills Community Church from 6pm-8pm. Data indicates for every 1,000 families who express interest in fostering children in South Carolina, only 300 of them make it through the months-long process to license. The Foster Care Resource Center: We provide resources, such as clothes, cribs, baby equipment, and toys through our Foster Care Resource Center. Volunteers clean out, sort out and organize the foster center regularly, and we have volunteers that shop for families who take emergency placements and need help. Pack Care Bags - When children enter foster care, our hope is to provide a dignified duffel bag, personalized with a child’s name when possible to show the child how valuable and precious he is! Volunteers pack “care bags” from donations for specific foster children and to have at DSS for social workers to utilize when they head out with police to take custody of children. These bags allow caseworkers to arrive at foster homes with something to help families get through the first few days. In this care bag, we put a couple outfits, socks, undies/diapers, blanket, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, hairbrush, diapers, band aids, a toy, and children’s Bible storybook. We collect items during any time of the year, or your group can pack complete bags! Contact us for more information! Providing Back to School shoes to foster kids is a tangible way to say we care. Every child deserves to start a school year feeling confident in new shoes! Provide Childcare for Foster Parent Association monthly meetings. We need 10-12 volunteers per Foster Parent Association meeting. Groups are welcome to come serve! Foster parents require 28 hours of training every 2 years. Provide a meal before FPA trainings so that families can come directly from work and enjoy a meal together before training begins. Provide Mini-Grants to Foster Families as needed: Foster parents can apply for mini-grants for big and small things. We hope to provide scholarships for foster parents to attend the SCFPA Conference. This is a great opportunity to be inspired and encouraged, connect with other foster parents and resources, as well as earn training hours. The conference is in Greenville, SC, and is $75.00 per parent each April. We also fundraise for foster child needs like camp tuition, special events (prom/band/field trips), beds/cribs/mattresses/car seats, as well as foster parent needs during licensing like smoke detectors/ new windows, beds/cribs/mattresses/car seats, etc. Date Nights for Foster Parents. Fostering couples desperately need opportunities to be recharge and reconnect. Traumatized children often have high emotional needs, serious medical concerns, and many new stressors in the family schedule like sudden meltdowns, medical appointments, social worker and GAL visits, etc. We want to give foster Mamas and Daddies a night out! Meals Ministry: We want to build a team of volunteers that delivers meals to families periodically—call us if you are interested in this ministry! This is especially a need for families that take newborns and sibling groups suddenly. Respite care services: We coordinate opportunities for foster parents to get a break for a night, an hour, or a weekend.
*As fundraising provides, we hope to offer an annual retreat weekend for foster/adoptive mothers to rejuvenate and connect! Contact us if you’d like to fund a “Created to Care” weekend for our community’s super mamas! Sponsor Foster Child Birthday Parties- Every child deserves a special birthday celebration. Mentoring: If you would like to mentor a child of any age or especially a child getting ready to age out and become independent, please contact us! Care for Social Workers: Social workers have a tough job! They work long hours in extremely stressful circumstances. We hope to periodically treat them to breakfast or lunch at the Department of Social Services or surprise them with small gifts of encouragement as they serve foster children and are an integral part of each child’s care team.
*Other opportunities exist based on skills volunteers bring: baking birthday cakes, adoption parties, photography sessions, etc. Have an idea to care for families? We’d love to hear from you! Providing wrap-around support encourages good, stable families to become foster families. Nationally, almost half of the foster families drop out every year because they are overwhelmed. Help us change that!
