Years ago, Mr. Rogers reminded us of something that rings true today: “We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say it’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem. Then, there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.”
Right now, as COVID-19 turns our lives upside down, children are particularly vulnerable. For many of them, home is not a safe place to be. Because of factors like abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness, we’ve experienced an increase in the number of children needing foster families. This is an unfair burden for youth who are already experiencing trauma, through no fault of their own.
At SAFY, a nonprofit preserving families and securing futures through therapeutic foster care, we are responding urgently to ensure the safety and stability of children and their families through this uncertain time by:
- Finding innovative ways for our team of social workers, clinicians, and family therapists to serve populations using telehealth and other technologies.
- Providing opportunities for caring families to start of the process of becoming licensed foster parents through virtual training sessions.
Together, thanks to our community’s willingness to step up, we will get through this. Together, we are finding safe, loving and stable homes for our youth. Together, we are delivering training programs and life-skills resources and that our older youth in independent living programs need to succeed now and in the future. Together, we are providing financial support to families already at-risk due to poverty, mental health challenges and the increased stress of job loss, reduced hours and child care needs.
This National Foster Care Month, you can be the difference. If you’re looking for ways to become the helpers and the heroes, please visit www.SAFY.org or call 937-853-9061.