Creating New Realities

Today in America there are 800,000 children experiencing foster care. One third of our youth will never return home and never be adopted. Many will spend their childhoods bouncing through the public foster care system and at the age of 18 will launch out into the world without any enduring family or community connections. We all know what happens next…

Why is America stuck here? What keeps us from using our common sense and humanity? What prevents us from choosing to do the right thing?

The answer: Because almost everyone is looking around and responding to what they see. We are focused on today’s foster care reality. We learn our facts from the media and believe that there are only two ways we can help:

· Become a foster parent

· Adopt a child from the public foster care system.

For most people this is too much to ask. They walk away. In those moments our children lose thousands of potential resources – people who would be happy to step up to the plate if only there was a menu of compelling engagement options from which they could choose. We have begun to design this menu in our area of the country and it’s working – lives are being enriched, interesting collaborations are being formed, lasting family connections are being made, and more people are volunteering to participate in our programs.

Take a look at the faces of the children in our Photo Gallery! You’ll see faces filled with joy. There’s a lot more work to do but we have begun and we are delighted that you are willing to think outside the foster care box with us.

Best Regards,
Judy Cockerton