Tiffany Hester, One27 Initiative will be us.

The One27 Initiative has four main goals…

First, to raise awareness for the need for foster families.

Second, to raise awareness for the need for respite families.

Third, to provide community among foster families and kids. They will do this by providing monthly or quarterly events for these families and their children. Their first event will be hosting this year’s Christmas party for the Norfolk City foster kids/families.

Lastly, to come alongside and serve the city agencies. This can be done in a variety of ways…they would like to provide them and the children in care with supplies, volunteer at their events, provide refreshments for their trainings, etc. One of their main projects falls under this…

They call them Bags of Hope.

When a child is removed from their biological home or moved to a new foster home, they rarely come with any of their own belongings…and if they do it’s just thrown into a trash bag. It’s a traumatic experience and we want to provide hope in one of their darkest moments. They will provide them with a duffle bag full necessities, such as clothing and toiletries, but will also have an age-appropriate comfort item. (stuffed animal, journal, etc) They want to fill the trunks of all the social workers in the area so that these are on hand in a moment of need. For a list of items needed, click here.