There are a number of ways individuals and groups can take action. Read below to explore several on-ramps for supporting our local social system and foster care families.
Foster Care
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Become A Foster Parent
Please contact our Adoption and Foster Care core team if you are interested in becoming a foster parent by emailing afc@willamette.cc
Embrace Oregon Coffee Houses
This is an opportunity for prospective foster parents to sit together with other prospective foster parents and the Embrace Oregon staff for a Q & A session with active local foster parents. Go to Embrace Oregon Facebook Page for the next opportunities to visit a Coffee House.
With Love
With Love is a local not-for-profit organization serving young foster families within the Portland-metropolitan area. They provide high-quality resources at no cost. Their mission is to “support foster families by providing safe, clean, and quality clothing and supplies for children ages 0-5, while exuding love and honor.”
In partnership with With Love, Hope City seeks to help meet specific organizational needs through directing willing volunteers to their website where they can sign up to serve in their Tigard warehouse as well as better understand how their gifts and talents can be put to use in supporting and growing this thriving non-profit.
Volunteer Now
Foster Parents' Night Out
Foster Parents’ Night Out (FPNO) provides respite care to foster parents on one Saturday evening each month. FPNO provides a fun-filled four hours of activities, crafts, dinner, and loving care to children who range in age from two weeks old to seventeen years old. Volunteers serve by helping with a specific age group of children, acting as security team members, or working in the kitchen to feed everyone. At the end of the evening, foster parents return rested and refreshed and the kids have experienced positive interactions with volunteers who simply want to nurture them.
If you have a heart for children who are part of the foster care system this is an excellent way to develop relationships with foster kids and serve foster parents, giving them a much-needed break. FPNO volunteers must attend a three-hour training and pass a criminal background check and committed to serving at FPNO on a regular basis.
Take Action
Become A CASA
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) are a special kind of volunteer: When a child is removed to protective custody due to abuse or neglect, a CASA provides a voice in court and constant, dedicated support in finding the safe and permanent home where he or she will thrive.
Learn More
Department of Human Services
Embrace Oregon Partnership
Hope City Church partners with Embrace Oregon in support of our local Department of Human Services (DHS). Embrace facilitates onramps for people to engage in order to come alongside vulnerable children and their families through DHS. Opportunities that are available include:
Welcome Boxes
Boxes provide children in foster care with special items during a time of crisis like sitting in a DHS office, leaving the hospital or aging out of foster care.
Office Buddies
Office Buddies spend time with a child at the DHS office when he or she is being taken into foster care and is awaiting their next placement.
Staff Encouragement
Caring for vulnerable children means supporting those on the front lines who work with these children. Hospitality teams deliver monthly treats to DHS staff and plan larger appreciation events.
Transportation
Currently, DHS has a significant need for adults to volunteer time in transit with a foster child who is visiting with his or her birthparent(s). This is a unique opportunity to provide consistent relationship to a child in their monthly rhythm of parental visitations.
Emergency Needs
Continuous needs emerge for children and families at DHS offices that cannot always be met with state resources. Community members can tangibly meet these needs.
Theology of Adoption & Foster Care
Learn more about the theology behind what we do, and the current state of adoption and foster care.
Find Resources
Get more information on becoming an adoptive or foster parent, or get resources if you already are one.