By Megan Wehring
DRIPPING SPRINGS – While the world may have fallen silent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cry for help from children in foster care has increased.
“We already serve so many families in the margins,” said Susan Ramirez, founder of Austin Angels. “The pandemic has increased the amount of emergent requests and funding for families. A lot of our families need more support now more than ever so we’ve just been working overtime trying to fulfill needs and requests.”
More than 400,000 children are in the foster care system in the U.S., according to the Children’s Bureau, and more than 100,000 are waiting to be adopted. Local nonprofits, as well as caretakers, are working to provide the love and support that every child deserves. Members of local communities are encouraged now more than ever to contribute their time to help foster families, caretakers and children.
While some people may not understand what it takes to care for a child, a 40-year-old Kyle woman shares her advice with families who are looking to foster or adopt. This woman has asked to remain anonymous.
“Do it if they really mean it in their heart because you need to have love for these children,” the woman said.
Foster Village started in 2016 by the Smith family who witnessed the needs of foster families firsthand and understands that it takes a village of support to make caring for a child happen. The Smiths became a licensed foster home in 2014 and then adopted their daughter who arrived at their home when she was only 8 months old.
Foster Village logo
“Meeting the kids and families who are navigating this on a daily basis, we know it’s going to take the whole community to help break these generational cycles of adversity and that it’s an all hands on deck need,” said Chrystal Smith, founder of Foster Village.
Families receive basic necessities within 24 hours when a child is placed in their care, Smith explained. Foster Village keeps these items stocked at their resource centers in Dripping Springs and north Austin.
Smith also said they try to focus more on providing essential items for Christmas, since most community donations revolve around children’s toys.
“There is an overabundance of toys,” Smith said. “We focus on making sure they have new things like pajamas and the basic necessities for the kids that are entering foster care.”
There has been a “perfect storm” of pressure on the foster care system due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith said. Foster Village has received an influx of children who are staying at the Dripping Springs resource center while waiting to be placed in homes
“It’s a home-like environment that we’ve set up as an alternative to those kids sleeping in a CPS office,” Smith said. “So this year, it has served as a haven for those kids to have a more dignified place to stay other than the sterile CPS office.”
Smith encouraged more people to consider becoming a foster family while also looking at placing the needs of a child over themselves.
“There’s the greatest need for folks who are able to care for sibling groups and teenage groups,” Smith said. “A willingness to put the priority of kids ahead of our own desires to grow our families. The goal of foster care is reunifications so sometimes that means caring for kids for a short period of time.”
Austin Angels started in 2010 when Ramirez attended a conference called “Together for Adoption.” While she was encouraged by a client to go to a presentation about foster care, Ramirez was initially uninterested since she did not feel called to foster, but she attended anyway. When she left the conference, Ramirez turned her focus to meeting the needs of children in foster care and their caretakers.
Austin Angels logo
“Not everyone is called to foster and not everyone is called to adopt,” Ramirez said. “But anyone can make a difference in a child’s life.”
With 10 years under its belt, Ramirez and her team at Austin Angels continue to abide by the mission: walk alongside children in the foster care system, as well as their caretakers, by offering consistent support through intentional giving, relationship building, and mentorship.
“I believe that every single child should have the opportunity to rise and reach their fullest potential,” Ramirez said. “The statistics and the heartbreaking stories that come out of foster care, I just believe we as a community can do better than that. I wanted to develop a program that would change children and family lives.”
While not every person is called to foster or adopt, Ramirez encouraged the community to get involved in donations or any of the Austin Angels programs. The Love Box program, requiring a one-year commitment, matches volunteers with a foster family based on compatibility and needs. Dare to Dream, requiring a one-year commitment and bi-monthly visits, offers an opportunity to serve an aged-out or at-risk to age out youth in foster care.
