February 2019 Newsletter What's happening at James Storehouse?

Uniting

Providing physical and relationship support for foster families through partnerships!
There are approximately 200 foster children in St Tammany alone and almost 900 in the DCFS Covington Region.  We expect that almost all of the St Tammany foster children will use the Center at least once.  
We have already started to see a reduction in trauma experienced by the children, an increase in good childhood experiences and memories being created, opportunities for bio parents to begin to turn their lives around, a reduction in caseworkers stress and turnover.
Our implementation of Open Table is off to a great start.  The Florida Parishes now has 1 Table waiting for Youth assignment, 5 Tables undergoing training and 7 Groups that are interested in establishing a table.  We are here to make a difference!

Impact

We filled over 300 requests in 2018 from caseworkers and other agencies.  Our impact has provided cribs, beds, bunk beds, food, sporting fees, laptaps, college support, uniforms, extracurricular activiites, clothing and diapers for foster families,

Partnerships

We work with several non profits that serve different segments of the foster care system.  Our objective is to not duplicate the services that other non-profits do well, but to walk along side them and partner with them to better fulfill the needs of the foster families.  Right now that includes
Crossroads NOLA, 
CASA, Children's Hospital, Northshore Enduring Hope to name a few.
 

The Center

Our center is serving as a safe place for state required visitation with bio parent and child.  It acts as a supportive environment for caseworkers that deal with impossible situations on a daily basis.  Our goal is to create a safe and wholesome experience for the children, increasing their chances for adoption or normalcy and reducing the chance of aged-out youth becoming a statistic.  

 
As always a special thank you to all of you who have made this possible.  To the community, volunteers, community partners and individuals.  We are so grateful for your time and donations.  
We are creating a partnership relationship with churches, civic groups, businesses and the community to join us in serving the foster children system.  It is important to realize that these children who have been placed into the foster system through no fault of their own are not the sole responsibility of the state.  The welfare of these children is the responsibility of the Community and we need to step up and live out the calling "to care for orphans and widows in their distress"