I'm in the middle of one such project right now, serving on behalf of University Fellowship and in conjunction with Every Child, a new initiative in Oregon that has recently launched in Lane County, aimed at caring for the huge and diverse needs of children in the foster care system by coming alongside DHS and the folks with boots on the ground.
Last Spring a few of us were able to take a tour of one of the local DHS offices where so many of the kids in crisis in our community have walked through the doors. The staff there have an incredibly difficult job, and they are under resourced in many ways. One of the needs they have is to make sense of the a number of rooms in their rented building that are used for children who are in foster care to have supervised visits their parents who no longer have custody. These visits are a taxing time emotionally for all involved, case workers, foster parents, estranged parents and most importantly the children, and the environment they have to meet in is, to put it nicely, "stressful".
Poor lighting, broken donated toys, games and furniture you wouldn't pick out of Goodwill, tiny cramped quarters........it's a bummer for everyone. The SSAs who are responsible for each room care deeply, and they work to keep their rooms tidy and stocked with whatever they can, often out of their own pockets, but it's just not working. Take a look at what they're working with right now.
There was a FB thread a while back with a number of Foster Parents who were thrilled with a similar makeover done at another office nearby, some started chiming in about our office, the Willamette one, and the comments were telling as to it's current state. One woman wrote, "I had my nephew with me one time at drop off. We walked into the room and he said 'woah, Nana!!! This is like a haunted playroom!' Ha ha ha. Complete with flickering florescent lights and everything." Yeah, it's actually that bad.
Enter Every Child, and a number of generous churches in our community who are stepping to fund brand new furnishings for each of the 11 rooms used on a daily basis and they'll provide teams of folks who will put it all together over the course of a weekend.
I've taken on role of organizing, designing and shopping for all of the rooms and it is a TASK! I'm in the thick of it now, but it is a total joy to see it all come together. We asked for input from each SSA on what toys, furniture and event themes they would like to see in their rooms, we're taking those into consideration, but also wanting to give them something that will look clean and fun for the kids and have some staying power long term as staff may change. The budgets per room aren't massive, about $1500 for everything, which is just enough but not extravagant by any means. We can't paint or change the carpet, so we're relying on art, good storage and organization and fresh furnishings to make a huge difference.
Here's a sneak peek at what some of the rooms will involve, if you know your Ikea products, you'll join me in thanking Sweden for their contribution.
In addition to the churches who are partnering financially, we also are encouraging individuals or other groups on the community to come alongside and help fill these rooms with the "heart" items, the toys, art supplies, games and books that provide the experiences for these children to share with their parents. I've organized a number of these items into an Amazon Wishlist for folks to shop from. If you have interest or questions about helping us fill these rooms, please don't hesitate to contact me. Email is great, ashleydwillms@gmail.com.
All of these items will be installed the weekend of October 14-15 by some incredible folks who are giving up their free days to make it happen! I can't wait to post the updates of this project, stay tuned!
Thanks in advance to Mosaic Church, Gospel Community Church, Grace Community Church, Awakening Church and University Fellowship Church for your donations, time and energy!
Check back in!
Ashley
No comments:
Post a Comment