12 ways to support foster care all year long

After the blog article I wrote about resolving to make the difference in someone else's life this new year, one of our facebook "fans" asked for suggestions of how they could help to empower the lives of foster children and those who are dedicated to either finding or providing forever families that can provide a home filled with support and love. So, we came up with a list! If you would like to do everything on this list or just one thing on this list, it will provide more support and encouragement than you could ever being to realize. Also, if you would like any help in fulfilling any of the "ways to help" on the list below, just call us and we would be more than glad to help out.

Thanks for reading and we hope to hear from you. Do you have any ideas to add on to this list?

FrameWorks' 12 ways to support foster care:

1. January - Write a note to a foster kid that provides encouragement and advice for the new year.
2. February – Bake heart shaped cookies and donate them to a group home facility.
3. March – send flowers to a social worker who works hard to find families for children. A group of people could chip in on this and a member of the FrameWorks staff could help you with finding a social worker to give to if you don’t already have one.
4. April – put together a “rainy day” care package for a kid living at a group facility.
5. May – Make a team for Walk Me Home! The walk will be May 15th this year!
6. June - Time for another care package that could include sidewalk chalk/beach towel/sun screen.
7. July – Send a note of encouragement to a foster or adoptive family! They would probably really appreciate a small gift certificate for a family activity like a visit to the ice cream store or a night out to the movies.
8. August – School will be starting and a little pencil pouch full of cool pencils, pens and erasers would be a handy gift to give a foster child.
9. September – this is a time of year when a lot of kids get to go school shopping with their families and children living in a group facility don’t get to enjoy that experience. A gift card to a clothing store would come in handy and an adoption recruiter could go for a one on one shopping trip with one of their kids. This way, the kid would get to feel extra special.
10. October – My favorite, Halloween! Send a group home a bunch of candy or Halloween themed baked items. Maybe by now you have been buying for one special foster kid who needs a family and you would like to buy them a mask or something fun to wear on Halloween.
11. November – November is National Adoption month and a tough month for kids who don’t have a family to eat Thanksgiving Dinner with. This month, you can help out by attending a National Adoption Month event and saying a special prayer for foster children who are waiting for a family.
12. December – The holidays are here! You know what you can do!

Computer training for WV foster children

During the week after Christmas, our e-impact tech program at Mission WV was able to team up with FrameWorks on a project that combined the mission of empowering foster youth's lives and teaching technology to the youth throughout our state. Thanks to a grant given by the Mollohan Foundation, Mission West Virginia was able to provide free computer training to a few of the foster youth who live at Stepping Stones, a group facility for foster children. The program called BIKISI, stands for Build it Keep it Share it. Youth who participate in the program are given the tools, parts, and knowledge to build a computer of their very own that they are allowed to keep at the end of the week.

“These young men were not able to visit with family over the holiday” said Susan Fry, Stepping Stones Executive Director, “and the positive engagement, knowledge and priceless opportunity this program afforded them certainly brought a smile to their faces during a time that is very difficult for many of our kids.”

We are so happy that this was such a good experience for everyone involved. We hope to continue seeking funds so that more foster youth can also have the opportunity to get involved in the BIKISI Program.

Happy 2010!

The staff at FrameWorks hopes you have all had a wonderful holiday season and are now getting back into the routine of daily life. At the office this week, we are reviewing the past year and discussing our goals for 2010. 2009 was a great year and several of the children we work with were placed in permanent homes with loving forever families, but the work isn't finished until every foster child in our state has a family.

Leading up to Christmas and the New Year, I kept thinking about the children we work with who would be spending the holiday at a group home or treatment facility. We do all we can to make the holiday extra special for these children and I cannot thank everyone enough who donated gifts.

With each new year, many of us come up with personal resolutions to lose weight, finish a project, quit smoking, etc. I thought it would be nice if FrameWorks and our blog readers came up with resolutions to help others. For example, what can you do this year to make sure another foster teen doesn't spend another Christmas at a group home? Or, what can you do this year to empower the life of a foster child?

Please comment on this post with resolutions of how you plan to help out someone else this year. By making a donation, buying personal items, etc. What are your ideas?!

Thanks for reading!

Carrie