Our heart is helping those in foster care is one of care and prevention.
Sometimes kids enter the foster care system from either domestic
violence or sexual abuse situations. They are without their families and
often split up from their siblings. As kids mature, there are less and
less homes available for them, so they end up in facilities that were
created for teen offenders, not kids without a home. We institutionalize
our children and leave them in homes where further abuse and neglect
can happen. But there are bright spots in the foster care system
– organizations like CASA advocate on behalf of the child and provide
the stability and care most of the children don’t get otherwise. Our
hope is that if we can affect kids in foster care we can not only stop
generational domestic violence, but create safe places so kids don’t
runaway and become susceptible to traffickers and other predators. So
much in the cycle of violence, abuse and neglect could be ended if we
had better foster care with more loving homes ready to take in one or
two children and stick it out with them. Currently only 3% of those in
foster care go to college. If we had mentors in the foster care system,
people to engage and stay with a teen, to be there for them and provide
the stability of an adult in their life, we could increase that number!
How does that relate to clothes and cowboy boots? One of the biggest
ways to fight the stigma for kids in foster care is to help them
experience normal activities other kids don’t have to think about. Teens
in foster care are given a $90 stipend for clothes when they are 13 or
14. That’s it! After that the teen better hope someone in the house left
behind clothes or they go through high school with one outfit or don’t
go at all. By providing clothing to The Hanger we are giving high
schoolers a way to build their wardrobe and hopefully stay in school.
It’s the little things that we can do. If being able to get a prom dress
means a girl will get to experience that night and feel a bit more like
her friends (who never have a consideration for new clothes, shoes,
etc. because of their home situation) that is incredible. It is a step –
a small but vital step.
Join us in coming alongside those in foster care. Donate here.
