Table Of Content
We need support in the sourcing and hiring process but also in the knowledge of when to grow positions into full time and what is sustainable and livable. An active board leading this initiative is an area of growth for us. Having clarity in budgeting and market-value rates of positions is a resource need. In the summer of 2022, FVC expanded to two facilities. This expansion allows us to deepen our work with our program in development and is central to our strategic plans for the next three years.
Mission
Become a monthly donor and help fuel our mission, every donation helps and everyone can make a difference. Foster and adoptive parents Heather, Peter and Diana all credit their families’ success in part to help from others. The median household income in Charlotte, North Carolina is$67,385.The median household income for the surrounding county is $71,482compared to the national median of $66,222.The median age of people living in Charlotte is37.1 years.
With nowhere else to go, kids needing foster care sleep on the floor in county offices - North Carolina Health News
With nowhere else to go, kids needing foster care sleep on the floor in county offices.
Posted: Wed, 05 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Community
When Foster Village Charlotte joined Cultivate in 2020, they were an emerging organization that had a groundswell of grassroots support, an ambitious vision and deep passion for local children and families. The FVC team had recently moved into a Center that would serve as a home for their support groups, Welcome Pack storage and space for foster families and biological families to work together to support the children in their care. At Foster Village Charlotte (FVC), the commitment to providing a supportive space for children and foster families goes beyond the ordinary. FVC facilitates connections, offers educational and emotional support, and equips caregivers with essential advocacy tools. My vision has always been for Foster Village to be a safe haven for kids to come back to over and over again, one that’s comfortable and dignifying for their families.
Village Partner Community
Members of the community host donation drives and gently used items are posted on Foster Village Charlotte Swap for further needs. FVC staff follow up by email within two weeks with each family and also to introduce new families to other support services to stabilize the journey in foster care. Foster Village Charlotte creates connection with dignity for children and families experiencing foster care by meeting urgent needs, providing educational and emotional support, and advocating as a collective community voice for children. Foster Village Charlotte is committed to helping children, foster families, kinship families, and/or biological families by creating a village of support during their time of crisis. Staying emotionally present during the difficult transition into foster care takes lots of energy from all parties involved.
A Grassroots Movement Becomes a Beacon of Support
Foster Village operates on an annual budget of about $350,000, 70% of which comes from individual donations. It occupies a small house in the Oakhurst neighborhood in southeast Charlotte, but Santoro hopes she can raise enough money for a new resource center by the end of 2023. A new center would allow for more comfortable interactions between children and caregivers at sensitive and emotionally charged times, like when foster children reunite with their birth families. It is this ‘village,’ alongside a real community need that has fueled Foster Village’s momentum.
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Our volunteer program offers a variety of practical opportunities to get involved and support families in practical ways that make a tangible difference in their foster care journey. Imagine you are the child again and you have a birthday coming up. It's been almost a year since you've been living with your foster family and although you are bonding with them you are struggling with your longing to be with your parents. It's been almost a year since you've been in a home environment and you ache for being in "limbo." But then you learn your party is at the FVC Resource Center and the invitation includes both families.
ROOM WE LOVE: An Indoor Obstacle Course
Abused and neglected children lingered in bad situations. But Becky Santoro and her team at Foster Village Charlotte, a nonprofit that provides support for foster families, were prepared to act. In just the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region there are currently close to 600 kids in the foster care system. Over six months, they ramped up support groups, hosted meetings with the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, and doubled the number of first-time donors. Seventy percent of our organization is run by individual donations. We’re trying to show that everybody can impact foster care, not just foster parents.
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Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section. We understood, but just the thought of separating siblings felt so hard and so sad. We knew we were going to adopt his sister … but as we were gaining a daughter, someone else was losing a daughter. I think sometimes people forget about the other side of the story. Hat Creek Burger Company is carrying on its mission to provide support in all its communities by partnering with all of our Texas locations.
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Project SOOTHe provides non-invasive tools, play-based strategies, and individualized consultations to families free of charge to help caregivers engage and bond with the children in their homes. Forms can be filled out on our website by caregivers and our licensed pediatric Occupational Therapist and current foster parent calls to schedule a consultation. After a consultation, a follow-up email is provided that recaps the visit and suggests play-based strategies for the sensory tools that will be delivered. One of the things that brought us together was our mutual desire to support children in foster care.
Kinship families, often much less prepared because of the situation, are given any resources needed. Our delivery zone is 20 miles from our resource center but all items can be picked up at the center if out of range, allowing us to serve additional families. Forms are located on our website and filled out by social workers or caregivers.
Helping foster families and children by creating a village of support in the Charlotte area. You pick up a phone call in the middle of a work day to learn that a child needs you to open your home. You must quickly evaluate your life and decide whether to accept the placement with limited information about the child and the trauma they’ve experienced. You’re asked to come get the child immediately, unsure of whether the child will be with you 2 hours, 2 days, or 2 years. Even with the limited information, you say yes and go to meet the child. You’re rooting for the parents, but also knowing you’re next in line.
But when I left teaching, a piece of me ached to be near children and families in crisis, if only to be a safe person for a small period of time. I was a new mom of two with a simple life, but I was feeling removed from thinking about hard things, and I didn’t like that feeling. Recognizing the profound impact of isolation on foster parents, we’ve actively worked to bridge the gap between caregivers and support systems. By fostering a community where foster and kinship parents can connect and share experiences, we've significantly reduced feelings of solitude and burnout. The efforts culminated in establishing a resource center in 2019, funded by a SEED20 Funding pitch competition, which now serves as a hub for gatherings, support groups, and resource distribution. If you’re not fostering, it can be hard to understand all the grief, loss, love, heartache, and anger that go with it.
They fill out a Welcome Pack request form and a FVC volunteer gathers a bag from the resource center that meets their tangible needs. They drop these necessities off within hours, with a card that includes information about how to engage the Village in the days ahead. As the project kicked off, the team conducted the “14 Attributes of a Healthy Nonprofit” assessment to gauge FVC’s organizational health and structure. Simultaneously, they surveyed board members to create a roles and responsibility matrix, identifying skill set gaps within the board. By February, the team delved into reviewing and reimagining FVC’s strategic plan, marking the 15th meeting and over 40 invested volunteer hours by SVP Partners by the end of March. I was still working full time, I had a new child, and I really wanted to focus my energy on Foster Village.
It will be imperative for us to set healthy guidelines for eligibility and liability. Creating pathways for earned revenue including curriculum design and the use of the FVC Resource Centers on off-hours for like minded individuals and organizations. FVC is interested in developing earned revenue pathways that diversify funding and allow us to be an expert in the field. Knowledge of copywriting curriculum, becoming accredited to provide CEU credits to educators and therapists, and setting up facility terms and agreements are all areas of future growth within the organization. Over the next several months, this family comes back to the FVC Resource Center for trauma-informed trainings, foster family gatherings, family attachment and connection classes, and therapy-led support groups.
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