Fostering a child is a profound calling, but the daily reality can quickly overwhelm a household. “Sometimes it looked like just sending an SOS to the pastor's wife of like, ‘Hey, we're falling apart,’” says foster parent Rachel. Between managing court-mandated visits, medical appointments, and specialized care, the emotional and logistical demands add up fast. All parenting requires a strong support system, yet foster parents frequently navigate these complex needs in isolation, especially when extended family lives far away.
"There is a mental weight that comes with asking people to step into the hard things with you," Kayla, a fellow foster parent, says. Even asking for assistance creates another task on a long to-do list, driving exhaustion and burnout across the community. "Having help would help our entire family not feel so alone or overwhelmed," shares local foster parent Melissa. "We have older kids, so I think it is really good for them to see a community of people come alongside us and love us in the gap of having no family."
Recognizing this challenge, 1HOPE for Kids saw an opportunity to transform how communities wrap around foster families. In the past, organizations often provided foster parents with long, master lists of general volunteers for transportation or childcare. However, this model forced exhausted parents to contact individuals one by one, often facing unavailable schedules and added frustration. "Foster parents often struggle knowing how and exactly when they need help, so the lists of volunteers... ended up being a burden for the foster parents to have to contact volunteers themselves and wait for a response," explains Katy Wilhelm, 1HOPE’s Director of Family Enrichment.
To close this gap, 1HOPE developed HOPE Communities, a dedicated team of volunteers paired with each foster family. This organized network steps into tangible roles tailored to the household's unique schedule, providing meals, transportation to court-mandated visits, certified babysitting, prayer support, and help with everyday chores.
The engine behind this seamless coordination is the Team Lead. By acting as the sole liaison between the volunteers and the foster parents, the Team Lead removes the daily administrative burden from the family. "The Team Lead communicates with the foster parent(s) on a weekly basis to see what needs the families have," Wilhelm shares. "They will invest approximately two hours a week, and this in turn allows the foster family to spend time bonding as well as getting much-needed rest."
Crystal Tonne, who serves as Rachel’s Team Lead, stresses that the role is simple to manage. "I was just being that coordinator to help other people take advantage of the opportunities to serve her," Tonne explains. "It's really not a time-consuming role." But for foster parents, this practical relief changes everything. "The HOPE community helped with preventing the fires," Rachel says, "because it was more like we have people in place to babysit. We have meals on days so that we don't have to pull out of every other area of our life just because we're fostering."
Beyond simplifying weekly schedules, HOPE Communities create profound stability for everyone involved. For children in foster care who face frequent transitions, seeing familiar faces consistently provides a powerful sense of security and belonging. "The kids love knowing people by name and having friends that keep showing up," Kayla shares. "It helps them feel like they belong and that they are worth knowing. It improves their confidence and shows them what healthy, supportive relationships can look like." Wilhelm sees this emotional grounding as the foundation for a thriving future, noting that consistent volunteers offer building blocks for emotional connection where deficits once existed.
Ultimately, this sustainable support gives foster parents the capacity to continue saying “yes” to children in need without burning out. Rachel reflects on sitting in church and looking across the congregation at her transporter, respite providers, and weekly meal team. "I might be the only licensed foster parent here, but my church cares for foster families, and that just means the world to me. And it really is why we just keep going back to more."
1hopeforkids.org | 210-910-6533 | 11550 IH-10 W, Ste. 255, San Antonio
"We have older kids, so I think it is really good for them to see a community of people come alongside us and love us in the gap of having no family." —Melissa, Foster Parent
"The kids love knowing people by name and having friends that keep showing up. It helps them feel like they belong and that they are worth knowing. It improves their confidence and shows them what healthy, supportive relationships can look like." —Kayla, Foster Parent