Our Mission

We strive to reduce the trauma for children coming into the foster care system by providing a safe, warm, and loving home environment where their needs are met until they are placed in a foster or kinship home.

The Reality …

When a child enters the foster care system, they are removed from their home and taken to DHR’s office. There the child waits in the caseworker’s office, or a conference room, while a relative or foster placement is found. This process can take hours; sometimes it lasts overnight. The caseworker must provide basic childcare as they find a placement and a place for the child to rest if the process stretches into the night. In Madison County, air mattresses have recently been provided for the children who must stay in the DHR office overnight. I can’t imagine how terrifying and demeaning it must be for a child who has just been taken away from the people and place they love, to the complete unknown. They have to stay in an office, hearing the caseworker repeat the events they experienced that day and repeatedly list their behaviors to potential placements. For a baby, all the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of loved ones are gone. The caseworker must adapt to the baby’s cues while doing their job. This is the reality.

What Could Be …

Our prayer and hope is that this can be changed! Imagine… a warm, inviting home where volunteers are ready to care for the child and provide every need. The caseworker has an office where they can work and make phone calls in private, while cameras throughout the house provide constant awareness of the child’s location and confirm that the child is being cared for by volunteers. Volunteers can even support the caseworker. A cup of coffee or a sandwich for a caseworker who has been hard at work and hasn’t had time for lunch would lift their spirits. Imagine the child being supported, cared for, and loved as they try to process the horrible day they have experienced. The child will have access to toys, food, a bath or shower, clean clothes, and a bed. As the child moves to their placement, we will provide them with clothes, toys, and other needs. This will help the relative or foster family the child is placed with. We believe this could be the beginning of an amazing shift in how our community supports our most vulnerable individuals!