I am a blessed individual. Throughout my life parents, siblings and extended family have protected, guided and shaped me into the person I am today. Sadly, there are many children in the United States who are not so lucky. In fact, there are thousands of them in Iowa who are currently in foster care. Their lives in limbo as they wait for reunification, adoption or for many to simply age out of the system.
IFAPA works to provide training, peer support and resources to promote safety, permanency and well-being for Iowa’s children. While IFAPA receives funding through the Department of Human Services, that money is earmarked for training and cannot be used for other purposes.
It is because of this that the Friends in Foster Care Fund was created. This fund helps to provide the "extras" for children in foster care. Children in care already live disrupted lives, this fund seeks to provide them with things their peers take for granted such as the ability to pay for summer camp, graduation photos, field trips for school, and prom, to name a few. It may seem unimportant, but for a child in foster care it can mean the difference between a sense of normalcy and feeling different yet again.
I am looking to raise $500.00 this year! I hope that you will join me in my fundraising effort and dollar by dollar begin to make a large difference in the life of a child in foster care.