Donate

Ways To Help

Supporting the Foster House Project and “The Madison County Initiative” is a meaningful way to make a positive impact on the lives of children in foster care. There are several ways you can contribute:

The Board of Directors

Amy Heflin - President

Amy is a Christian, a full time homemaker, has a B.S. in Elementary Education, has been a parent for 21 years, and a foster parent for the past 12 years with AGAPE of North Alabama. Once a year, she co-teaches TIPS/MAPPS (foster parent) training classes with the director of AGAPE. Her family is mission-minded toward the foster care system, and work together to show the family’s love to the children who come into their home.

What’s Up with the generic name for the charity/organization?

There are two main reasons we chose the organization name. The first is that there are similar efforts going on in other places and they use a variety of names from the names of children to the names of concepts, IE. faith, hope, love, etc. These are great and we don’t have any problems with that. We started with the intention of having multiple houses as time went on and we want any given house to carry a name that is meaningful to it’s community. Ant it will share the organization’s taglines “Love lives here” and “Where love is always home.” The second reason for a more generic overall name is that we see a possibility of adding scope to our mission as a future possibility.

Is there a currently a house in operation?

We were established as a 501(c)(3) on September 15th, 2023. We are currently raising funds to buy a property and to fund operation of the house for the first year.

What can I do to help?

We are looking for help to get the word out! Please share our information with everyone you think would be interested. We want our community to be involved in the development and operations of the house. If you have a particular interest in volunteering, please let us know!

What if I don’t want to volunteer to work with the kids, but I want to do something else?

There will be so many opportunities for ways to help! Donating money, donating time to support the house operations (cleaning, stocking food, lawn work, etc.), making phone calls, fundraising, decorating, painting, sorting donations, running errands, and the list goes on. Everything, even something seemingly small, will be a tremendous help!

See Our Latest Video

We strive to reduce the trauma for children coming into the foster care system by providing a safe, warm, and loving home environment where their needs are met until they are placed in a foster or kinship home.

The Reality …

When a child enters the foster care system. They are removed from their home and then taken to DHR’s office. There the child waits in the caseworker’s office, or a conference room, while a relative or foster placement is found. This process could take hours, sometimes it can take overnight. The caseworker must provide basic childcare as they find a placement. They must provide a place for the child to rest if the process stretches into the overnight hours. In Madison county, air mattresses recently have been provided for the children who must stay in the DHR office overnight. I can’t imagine how terrifying and demeaning it must be to a child who has just experienced being taken away from the people and place they love, to the complete unknown. Having to stay in an office, hearing the caseworker repeat the events they have lived through that day, and over and over hearing the caseworker list their behaviors to the potential placement. For a baby, all of the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of loved ones are gone. The caseworker must adapt to baby’s cues, all while doing their job. This is the reality.