Dear prospective foster parents, As the Recruiter and Engagement Specialist for Encourage Foster Care I have the opportunity to connect with individuals and couples who have a heart to foster. I have such a great passion for our organization, and I absolutely love speaking with prospective foster parents and sharing the needs with them. My role as a recruiter is to guide you, as prospective foster parents, answer your questions and inform you on what sets Encourage apart from

We are looking for imperfect parents. Individuals who know they don’t have it altogether and still want to give what they have. Because being a foster parent isn’t about having a perfect home. It’s about having a welcoming home. A place where kids feel safe enough to let their guard down and start to heal. Being a foster parent isn’t about having a perfect heart either. It’s about having a willing-to-learn heart. Willing to explore and try trauma-effective strategies to best

We recently shared a news article on the Encourage Facebook page about youth in foster care being housed at the Cuyahoga County Department of Job and Family Services. We asked Encourage Intake Coordinator Angel Sigler to share more about the critical need and how we can respond. I hear voices crying out about the need for more foster parents in our communities. Voices saying that there are not enough homes for children in need of safety. On one level this is true, but there’s

So many questions come up when you consider fostering. There’s a lot to ponder as you seek to do what’s best for your family and follow the Lord in His plans for you. We asked one of our seasoned foster families to address one common question. The Beery Family is a Foster It Forward mentor family with Encourage helping their mentees feel more connected and better equipped to handle the unique challenges that come with fostering children. Elijah and Amanda Beery chose the jour

This blog post was originally published in January 2016. The truth of it remains the same so we are sharing it again to bring you encouragement for the journey. My husband and I have had the privilege of providing foster care to fifteen children since 2010. We have three little boys right now who are six, five, and three. Last week one of our little boys told me he really wished he had some orange pants. Now, when he first came to our home, you could barely understand a word