July is Social Wellness Month! This is a time to recognize the importance of social connections and the impact they have on your well-being. Lack of social connections can lead to a decline in mental and physical health. Compass Health describes social wellness as, “one’s...
If you are a foster parent, you may be faced with a hard decision in life: making the tough call of answering “yes” or “no” to a child living in your care. But what follows when you make that final decision? Guilt? Feeling like you’ve...
Foster Coalition has been doing extensive work to make improvements in the foster system. Through training events, meetings and support groups, providing education and advocacy, collaboration with the community and fellow foster care advocates, and more, we have been able to make waves in the...
Mental Health Resources and Advice from Debra Patterson, clinical psychologist at Children's of Alabama and Cindy Jones, Director of Psychiatric Intake Response Center at Children's of Alabama. Q: How do you notice the signs of someone you know or love struggling with mental health? A: Sometimes it’s...
Do you ever get the feeling that someone you know and love is struggling with something, but you don’t want to pry before they are ready to talk about it, while equally scared to overlook the issue? I think many people can relate to that....
This testimonial is from the perspective of a foster mom and educator of children. She balances being a teacher and foster parent while maintaining strong relationships with all children under her care. In understanding the severity of the issues in the foster system, like case...
The Foster World is Not in a Land Far Far Away… Tell me about yourself… I am a foster and adoptive mom. I have been fostering for 8 years. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve seen children struggle to find safe and loving homes. I’ve seen...
Let’s Get Real about the Foster System. What things did or did not help during the fostering process? Some providers aren’t helpful, especially if you don’t know who to talk to. I have been very careful who I’m going to seek help from. I want them to...
How to start the process of fostering and gather support and resources. Where does a new foster-parent-in-training begin? When I was adopting, we started through Lifeline Children’s Services. I knew they had an international program for adoption and were Christian-based, which was perfect for me because I...