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
Explore Fostering Coffee Houses
This is an opportunity for prospective foster parents to come together for a live Q & A session with Every Child PDX, ODHS certifiers and experienced local foster parents. Go to Every Child PDX events to find the next opportunity to a 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, our church 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
Oregon Department of Human Services
Every Child PDX Partnership
Our church partners with Every Child PDX in support of our local Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS). Every Child PDX facilitates onramps for people to engage in order to come alongside vulnerable children and their families through ODHS. Opportunities that are available include:
Welcome Boxes & Launch 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.
Transportation
ODHS has a need for adults to be Volunteer Drivers of Tangible Goods. Pick up goods at community Anchor Sites for My NeighbOR and deliver to foster families or bio families. There are also special delivery dates, like a Flash Box Delivery Day, where many drivers are needed at the same time.
Community Needs
Continuous needs emerge for children and families served by ODHS offices that cannot always be met with state resources. Community members can tangibly meet these needs for each other through My NeighbOR.
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.