Q: Can you tell us about Fostering Hope?
Fostering Hope is a volunteer run, donation based organization that provides resources to families in the foster care system. We provide free resources to foster families, kinship care families, pre- and post-adoptive families, biological families on safety plans with their local child welfare office, and young adults who have recently aged out. We provide items like; clothing, toiletries, toys, baby items, and whatever else we can to these families. We are currently at 10 chapters and are continuing to grow. Our goal is for the families we support to know they have a community that cares for them and is here to help meet their needs. The community has truly gone above and beyond in donating items, time, and more.
These families may get a child brought to them in the middle of the night and they may have nothing. We are here to help them get through that time and help them feel supported by our team and the community. It can be a lot to go from having next to nothing to having to go buy everything for a child. A lot of these kids come in with heavy needs too. These parents want to be able to focus on the child’s needs and less on gathering stuff. We can do that for them. People usually come in here and say “I can’t believe this” as they “Shop”. They usually start crying and then we all start crying with them. We are grateful to be a part of helping these children and families feel less alone.
Fostering Hope has run 4 initiatives. First, Our dignity duffel bags. This is an initiative we did to make sure kids had duffle bags to take with them from place to place so they were never handed a trash bag while they had to pack up their lives and move on to the next. We give the bags to case workers and they are able to pass them along to their kids. Every dignity duffel I look at I can think of at least 20 people who contributed to it. Second, we have our bags of hope. These are drawstring bags we pass out filled with toiletries. These bags may also include things like a nightlight, water bottle, and more. We are working on our third initiative now. That is the Fostering Hope Foster-Share Closet. The closet is a place where foster parents and children can ‘shop’ for items they need. Every item is free of charge. A few chapters recently launched our 4th initiative called fostering phones. This initiative will provide kids aged 14-21 with a phone and a year of service. We just gave our first one out the other day.
Q: How did you get involved with Fostering Hope?
My friend Sarah and I found ourselves donating items to the Upper Bucks chapter of Fostering Hope. The Upper Bucks chapter is almost an hour away from where I am. In speaking with the girls from the Upper Bucks Chapter we realized how big Bucks County really is and how big the need was for a closer chapter. Foster parents down here in Lower Bucks weren’t traveling to get the items and we really felt it was a loss for them. Sarah and I offered to help and suddenly we were opening Fostering Hope Lower Bucks County. We opened in April 2023. The chapter started in my garage. We moved from the garage into two storage units for a year. We officially got our space right around the end of March 2024. We are in a small 500 sq ft space behind the Dunkin Doughnuts on Richboro Rd.
We are all volunteers at Fostering Hope. One of our volunteers, Susan, works for UPS so she put in a request to see if anyone would like to help us move. We were overwhelmed by people’s generosity to help us. We had over 20 amazing community members come move for us. It was incredible.
Q: How can people get involved?
If someone is interested in donating, we take seasonal clothes, toys, and more. Car seats, cribs, bedding, diapers, and formula need to be new for us to accept it. We’ll take about as much as we can fit. People can also donate financially at https://fosteringhopepa.com/get-involved/donate/. If you know anyone who could benefit from Fostering Hope, please pass along our information. We want to touch as many people as possible.
Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself and your family.
I grew up in South Jersey and moved to Bucks County in 2008. I love it here. Growing up I never thought I would leave The Jersey Shore, but I truly love Bucks County. In my day to day life outside of Fostering Hope I am a mom with 4 kids at home. They are 11, 14, 14, and 16 years old. We are a blended family with my boyfriend’s 2 kids and my 2. Our kids are also an amazing help with Fostering Hope. They all come whenever they can. Most of the families know them, especially the youngest. She loves to come in and either play with the kids or help the adults shop.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career.
When I was in college I started going to nail school at night. I ended up transitioning full time into nail school pretty shortly after. I worked as a manicurist in a salon down the shore from age 17 to 31. When I moved to Bucks County I went back to school for cosmetology to get my hair license. At that point I had 2 little kids so life was really hectic. I loved being in a salon though. The atmosphere was great and I loved everything about it. I did it all over the course of my career: nails, massage, hair, you name it.
Now I am the chapter coordinator Fostering Hope Lower Bucks County and I love what I get to do!
Q: What are your favorite restaurants in the area?
Our favorite in the area is Bowman’s tavern. We order from Meglios more than you can probably imagine. I also love Vecchia Osteria so I am pretty conveniently located.
Q: Where is your favorite place you have traveled and where do you want to go next?
My favorite places were Germany and Italy. Germany was my first taste of living abroad so it holds a special place in my heart. Portugal, Iceland, or Turks and Caicos are next on my list.
Q: What are your favorite movies and TV shows?
Honestly, we don’t watch much in our house. If we are turning something on it will likely be Big Bang Theory. I also loved Grace and Frankie and Ted Lasso. As far as movies go, Deadpool is my favorite.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
You’ll never regret helping someone
Q: What is your favorite band or music genre?
My playlist is all over the place and I really don’t have a favorite. I did just go to the Pink concert a few days ago and that was great! I got to go with my best friend who had given me my first Pink CD when we were younger. We’ve been to a few Pink concerts together, but this one was special because I got to bring my daughter as her Christmas present.
Q: What are some of your favorite things about our community?
This community is incredibly giving and willing to help one another.
Q: Where do you see Fostering Hope Lower Bucks in 5 to 10 years?
I am so content where we are, but I definitely see more for our chapter. I dream of more families shopping here. I hope we continue to develop more initiatives and I hope in 5-10 years we have many many more families fostering children. I can’t wait to see this group continue to grow.
Q: What’s an interesting fact about you?
I lived in Europe for 3 years. I lived in Germany, London, and the Canary Islands.
Q: What is your favorite holiday and why?
Christmas. The whole feeling of Christmas. I love seeing the holiday through my kids’ eyes. Plus all of the smells, the family, the food. You can’t go wrong
Q: What are one or two of your favorite smells?
The boardwalk and the firepit
Q: What words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Chaotic, fun, and love.
Q: Where can people find Fostering Hope Lower Bucks?
https://fosteringhopepa.com/chapter/lower-bucks-county/
Fostering Hope Lower Bucks is located in the Newtown Depot Shopping Center, 30 Richboro Rd, Unit 3R, Newtown, 19940.
Check our Facebook page to keep an eye on the work we are doing!
Fostering Hope Lower Bucks can be reached at: 267-291-4343
Click HERE to check out Lower Bucks’ current closet needs or our LinkTree for all the latest information!