When you donate to Ready for Life Foster Family Agency, where does the money go?
Approving Resources (Foster) Families: Once a family has expressed a desire to open their home to foster children, they begin the RFA process.
Child Development Fund: This fund is a special account set aside to help families afford the cost of sending children to special activities, extracurricular events, camps, etc.
Gap Fund: The sole purpose of this fund is to sustain the budget, allowing us to not have to cut social work staff, continue to recruit and approve families, provide vital resource and supports to current families and children during the time when numbers are low.
Ready for Life Host Homes is a program The Host Homes Program is an innovative, grassroots approach to addressing our community's homelessness crisis. By pairing transition-aged youth (18-24) with community members who have underutilized spaces in their homes, youth not only obtain access to short-term shelter but are also able to build meaningful connections to caring adults in their community. While staying in host homes, young adults are able to engage in the long-term housing search safely and more successfully and save any income early while being hosted toward their future.
We know from research that youth experiencing homelessness are best supported when they are able to remain in the communities where they are comfortable, have friends, attend school, and go to work. For this reason, the goal of the program is to recruit, screen, and provide support to volunteers who are willing to open their homes to young people ages 18 through 24 in their own communities who are experiencing homelessness or have unstable housing.
We now have a resource center for transition-aged youth (18-24). The resource center will allow youth to have a safe space to create a resume, apply for jobs, complete their FAFSA, access donations and food, and to build relationships..
Ready for Life Foster Family Agency
Each child comes with a different story and different needs. Coming into foster care is traumatic for every child, no matter the circumstance. We do our best to be sure every child who comes into care with nothing heads to their foster home with the essentials— new underwear, socks, pajamas, clothing, shoes and hopefully some fun things like books, toys, and a stuffed animal. These things are THEIRS and help them feel established in their new temporary home.
Foster parents don’t know what age, gender, or size the child coming into their home will be, so it’s impossible to fully prepare for a child’s specific needs ahead of time. Items donated prevent taking a child to the store that night to get necessary items.
Donations fluctuate as different children come into care. Here are some of our current needs: Duffel bags, Booster Seats, girls and boys underwear, pajamas, socks, shoes, diapers, wipes, baby items, diaper genie refills, gift cards
DONATE ITEMS
Ready for Life Host Homes Welcome Kits
Be a part of welcoming a homeless youth into their new home with a Guest Welcome Home Kit. To donate toward a Guest Welcome Home Kit, click on the Amazon Charity List.
Employee matching gift programs are corporate giving programs in which the company matches donations made by employees to eligible nonprofit organizations. It's an easy way to double your contribution to us! Would your employer match your donation?
Prayer
We believe in the power of prayer. Partner with us in praying for the children, young adults, and families of Ready for Life.
Did you know a small portion of every purchase you make on Amazon can support a local non-profit? Add Better Choices, Inc./Ready for Life Foster Family Agency and start shopping on smile.amazon.com.
Already have a PayPal account set up? Click on the PayPal logo to make a donation.
Shasta Regional Community Foundation developed and launched North State Giving Tuesday (NSGT) in 2014 as an online networking and giving event for Shasta, Siskiyou, and Tehama county nonprofits. This event provides nonprofit organizations the opportunity to gain exposure and start relationships with new donors, and for the people in Shasta, Siskiyou and Tehama counties to come together to raise as much money as possible for participating organizations within a 14 -hour period. Every year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, we partner with the community and local businesses to raise money for children and families in foster care.
