The CFOS Foundation Board approved the grants to four non-profit organizations which are well respected in the nonprofit world for their contributions to the foster care ecosystem.
The four grantees include one repeat organization – Bridge Meadows, and three new organizations – Olympic Angels and Hope Sparks in Washington and Oregon Social Learning Center (KEEP) in Oregon.
The approved grants were to the following non-profit organizations:
Olympic Angels
A $25,000 grant to Olympics Angels which offers Olympic Peninsula residents a framework that enables anyone to help improve the foster experience by matching them with service opportunities based on their interests, lifestyle, and availability. Their main activities revolve around recruiting, vetting, training, matching, and supporting community volunteers to provide consistent, healthy, supportive relationships to children in care and the families that support them.
Dare to Dream Program – Walking alongside youth as they navigate through life’s challenges. Mentors meet bi-weekly with youth and help meet both practical and emotional needs.
Love Box Program – Provides wrap-around support for the whole foster care family. Volunteers meet with their matched families at least monthly to help provide support, consistency, friendship and encouragement.
For more information, feel free to visit: https://www.olympicangels.org/ or to read their mid-year report visit: https://www.olympicangels.org/2021-mid-year-impact-report.html
OSLC
A $30,000 grant to an organization called the Oregon Social Leadership Center, but more specifically a program they operate called KEEP.
The mission of OSLC Developments is to use the knowledge generated from research to improve outcomes for children, teens and families in real world settings and public service systems such as child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice.
KEEP is a research-based program to assist kinship families outside of the child welfare system, about 36,000 families in Oregon (2019 census).
- Research shows kinship families are often at-risk for child welfare involvement and report feeling isolated and stressed.
- The risk is even higher for BIPOC families and those caring for LGBTQIA+ youth.
- Grandparents and other relatives may be unprepared to become full-time parents.
- Children who have experienced trauma, abuse, and neglect often have behavioral and emotional problems that make parenting challenging.
Bridge Meadows
A $40,000 grant to Bridge Meadows which promotes health and well-being across three generations by providing permanent, adoptive homes for youth in foster care, supporting adoptive parents with resources and guidance, and helping elders retain meaning and purpose in their daily lives through positive social connection. The CFO Selections Foundation has been awarding funds to Bridge Meadows since 2017.
Their mission is pretty unique and clearly explains how they work:
“Bridge Meadows develops and sustains intentional, intergenerational communities for youth formerly in foster care, adoptive families, and elders, building place, permanence, and shared social purpose one community at a time.”
It’s an honor to share that Bridge Meadows opened its 3rd community in October 2021 in Redmond Oregon, in Eastern Oregon. The community includes 10 family homes and 34 elder apartments for a total of 80 residents.
For more information about this facility visit: https://centraloregondaily.com/%E2%96%B6%EF%B8%8F-bridge-meadows-affordable-housing-opens-in-redmond-focus-on-foster-care/
To learn more about Bridge Meadows, visit https://bridgemeadows.org/.
HopeSparks
A $40,000 grant to HopeSparks. HopeSparks comprises six core programs that serve children and families in Pierce County who face trauma, adversity, and overwhelming life stress. Services are designed with accessibility and equity in mind and are provided in-clinic, in-home, and via telehealth. We will focus on one of the six programs – Relatives Raising Children.
Relatives Raising Children (RRC): Keeping families together by providing resources and support to caregivers in Pierce County who are raising children not theirs by birth.
The primary goal of RRC is to keep kids with their families and to keep families together. When this happens for children, the result is that they have better health outcomes, stability in their living environments, a greater sense of belonging, better relationships with extended family, a greater sense of safety, and a connection to cultural identity.
HopeSparks intends to primarily use the grant from the CFO Selections Foundation to provide emergency assistance funds for families caring for a relative. Costs such as childcare, food, transportation, clothing, beds, school supplies, or other basic needs are important to help fund, so relatives of the children are willing to take in and support the child. Children who are placed with a relative who feels financially overwhelmed are more likely to enter the formal child welfare system.
The CFO Selection Foundation is proud to partner with HopeSparks in this effort!
For more information, feel free to visit: https://hopesparks.org/,
We appreciate the contributions these organizations make to the community.
About the CFOS Foundation
The CFOS Foundation was founded by the partners of CFO Selections in 2007. The vision of this group is to harness the energy and talent of professional people who care about the needs of local foster children and work to make a measurable, positive impact in their lives.
