AFL Supports Foster Care in Upstate SC with $9,500 Grant
Staff Report From Spartanburg CEO
Tuesday, January 8th, 2019
AFL presented grants totaling $9,500 to two local organizations – Miracle Hill Ministries and Fostering Great Ideas – in support of foster care programs that impact children and families in the upstate of South Carolina.
Miracle Hill Ministries has been recruiting foster families to care for South Carolina’s children since 1988. In the last five years, they have increased the number of licensed foster families in the upstate from 45 to 241.
“Foster care families continue to be of critical need not only in the upstate but statewide,” commented Brenda Parks, director of foster care for Miracle Hill Ministries. “Our goal is to continue growing this program with the help of several care coordinators who help create a sense of balance and adjustment between the child and family. This results in a stronger relationship and increased long-term development of the child.”
The $7,500 grant from AFL will assist Miracle Hill in supporting the efforts of their Care Coordinators.
The second grant recipient is Fostering Great Ideas (FGI), an organization that seeks to improve the lives of children in foster care. The $2,000 AFL grant will aid FGI’s “Our Common Loss” program which provides support for foster families.
“With high demand and little supply of foster parents, retention is imperative,” said Crissy Wilson, director for FGI Spartanburg. “There is a strong emotional toil put on foster families, and this program strives to transition families through that difficult time. We are able to combine the required child-centered training hours with healing support for foster families.”
Fostering Great Ideas is striving to enhance “Our Common Loss” to the capacity of training 40 community leaders and build a grief support system for the current 144 foster families in Spartanburg plus an additional 200 families as they are recruited.