Rachel M. Ewald is Executive Director of the Foster Care Support Foundation in Roswell. As of 2021, over 15,000 children in Georgia are placed in foster care, not including hundreds of thousands of children being raised by thousands of grandparents or relatives.
SGC: Your agency provides support for fostering families and kids, both in base foster homes and in grands raising grands and relative care homes. How can our readers help most this year?
RE: Since 2020, the Foster Care Support center (FosterCares) has gone from the support of 15,000 volunteers to between 4,000 and 5,000 and two-thirds of our regular staff. Although we continue to serve the children, most of weekday corporate volunteers remain working from home so they have not resumed volunteering as team-building opportunities. Volunteers are needed Tuesdays through Fridays, 9:30 to 5:00. We are also hiring at our charity shop on the corner of Holcomb Bridge Rd and at our distribution center/warehouse, both in Roswell.
We are looking for 2000 individuals to become a child sponsor to donate $25 per month to maintain the level of financial support needed to continue to serve children.
SGC: The mentoring program is also a beautiful idea.
RE: Mentors of the H4T Program are leaders who wish to provide a positive example through support and guidance to a youth residing in foster care, a group home, or relative care. Mentors must commit to spending a minimum of four hours each month in person with the mentee for a minimum of 12 months. What makes a good mentor? Someone who can be a friend, listen well and observe needs for a healthy relationship. These children are rarely heard and having a listening ear may be rare for them. A good mentor knows not to judge, but can help guide gently and consistently to ensure a better future as the teen ages toward adulthood.
SGC: Many of our readers are at the helm of corporations and large companies. How does sponsorship work, what levels and what makes a good sponsor partnership?
RE: Financial sponsors are always needed since we are a unique nonprofit that does not ask for, nor receive government funding from state or federal levels. There is no other like this in the country and we have just finished our 21st year after incorporation. We are proud of our corporate, faith-based groups and individuals who have allowed us to provide for more than 70,000 children. Sponsorship levels can be found on our website and can be emailed to interested parties upon request. Without our community partners from across the state and country, these children may not have had the basic care items that our children enjoy every day. We are very proud of our communities who have supported the FosterCares programs and help us continue to provide for so many needs.