“I bless children in foster care, that the challenges of their past weigh not unduly on their future. I bless the hosting families that they may welcome their foster child with gentleness, deep compassion and caring and an understanding of their special needs.”
Pierre Pradervand, from https://pierrepradervand.com/365-blessings-to-heal-myself-and-the-world/
On any given day, there are nearly 437,500 youth in the foster care system in the United States. Of the thousands of youth who enter the system each year, most arrive with little more than the clothes on their backs. If they have any personal belongings, many carry them in trash bags. It is a time of great upheaval and instability, and their first foster home placement is unlikely to be their last. Many youth in foster care will be moved from home to home multiple times, carrying their life’s treasures in a trash bag.
When Rob Scheer was 12 years old, he ended up in foster care after a childhood filled with violence and abuse. As he moved through the system, he carried his limited belongings in a trash bag. Yet he was determined to overcome the obstacles. He went on to join the US Navy and launch a successful corporate career, and he always knew he wanted to be a father. In 2008, Scheer and his husband, Reece Scheer, decided they would adopt children out of foster care. All the children showed up with their belongings in trash bags. “I couldn’t believe it. The trash bag that I had carried so many years prior to that had found its way back into my life,” Rob Scheer said. “It’s just not acceptable that any child should carry their belongings in something that we all throw our trash in.” The couple adopted four children, and as a family, the Scheers began compiling supplies to donate to local foster children. Their nonprofit, Comfort Cases, was born. “We started building cases for kids that came into foster care, making sure that they had the basics,” Scheer said. The backpacks are loaded with necessities like soap and toothbrushes, along with a book, journal, blanket, stuffed animal and other items. Since 2013, the group has assembled more than 20,000 Comfort Cases for children in foster care all over the country. “We want to make them feel loved,” Scheer said. “I want them to know that even though they started their life in the system, the system still is not defining them. They deserve more.”
Visit https://www.comfortcases.org/ for more information.
And for a 19-day international campaign to prevent abuse, violence and neglect against children, visit this Swiss based organization http://19days.woman.ch/index.php/en/about-the-19-days-campaign/presentation
