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NORWOOD — Blaire Jamison of Media has a vivid memory of a Memorial Day weekend when a caseworker dropped off five siblings to her home in the middle of the night.

The children, all under age 9, arrived with the clothes on their back, and little else.

She remembers that she couldn’t even go out to get them diapers because she didn’t have car seats. She called her fellow Fostering Hope Delco volunteer Tristan Gansky, of Springfield, who ran over some necessities until she could get what she needed in the days that followed.

“This is fairly typical,” Jamison, a co-coordinator of Fostering Hope Delco said, shaking her head sadly at the memory. “It’s just how the system is. While CYS does offer foster families a stipend, the need for things like clothing, formula, diapers and toiletries is much more immediate. One of the kids who came that night didn’t even have shoes.”

A group of dedicated volunteers have set out to change the situation and bring dignity and hope to all children in the foster system, and be a lifeline to the caring and dedicated foster parents in Delaware County.

Fostering Hope Delco invites the community to join them at the grand opening of their foster-share closet for refreshments, activities, and the reveal of the closet Saturday Oct. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 128 Chester Pike, Norwood.

The closet has been donated and sponsored by St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, California Closets and the Philadelphia Foundation.

The event is being held to introduce Fostering Hope Delco as a resource for families that are part of the foster care system and caseworkers that work within the system.

The first permanent Fostering Hope closet is a place where general foster-care, kinship, pre/post-adoptive, and first families on safety plans will have the ability to “shop” free of charge, for items that they need.

It is a helpful resource because it includes essential gear, clothing, diapers, wipes, toys, furniture, and additional child care items. All the items in the closet are donated or purchased with donated funds. The only essential item not carried by the closet is formula, and that is intentional because of the current shortage.

“We didn’t think it was fair to stockpile formula here when other parents are running around trying to locate it for their children,” Jamison explained. “So we buy it on an as-needed basis with monetary donations that Fostering Hope Delco receives. Plus, most foster children can get their formula through the WIC program.”

The volunteers are excited about the new closet that they’ve organized and spruced up for Saturday’s grand opening.

“Since 2021 when we founded Fostering Hope Delco, we worked out of our houses and garages,” co-coordinator Gansky explained. “In just this past year, we served over 80 children already, so we are grateful to now have an organized space.”

Fostering Hope pays a nominal rental fee to St. Stephen’s for the space, which has easy access from the church parking lot.

“They’ve been very kind to us here,” Gansky stated. “Everyone has been helpful and generous. California Closets in Wayne donated the closet materials. They came and measured and fitted this room into a wonderfully organized, spacious walk-in closet.”

Monetary donations are always helpful, especially to purchase car seats and bedding, which must be new.

Fostering Hope helps many independent foster teens who are aging out of the foster care system and must set up their first apartment to live on their own. The nonprofit will purchase a bed and mattress for them.

The community donates not just monetarily to Fostering Hope Delco, but also gives new and almost-new clothes, pajamas, shoes and toys, as well as toiletries.

“We ask everyone to ‘donate with dignity,’ meaning to donate items that either have tags or are very gently used,” Gansky explained. “We want the children, who already have been through a lot, to feel good about their clothes and belongings.”

Donors can reach out through the Fostering Hope Delco Facebook page to arrange pickup or delivery of donations.

Driven from experience, and dedicated to community care, Fostering Hope Delco is a resource for families in Delaware County. Fostering Hope Delco is a volunteer-run nonprofit dedicated to offering meaningful services to help families and children in the foster care system.

Besides Jamison and Gansky, other active participants are volunteer director Laura Cortese of Havertown, Outreach Coordinator Carole Nebhut of Aston, Erin Cuellar of Springfield, who is in charge of fundraising, and Sarah Todd of Havertown, who oversees meals and membership.

They’re all volunteers who work alongside of the other dozens of volunteers who are passionate about the cause. Many of them are foster parents, former foster parents, or former foster children themselves. More volunteers are always needed.

“Not everyone can say ‘yes’ to fostering, but if someone has a passion for helping children in foster care, this is a way they can truly help,” Jamison stated.

Fostering Hope strives to provide an exchange of resources to families and children in the foster care system.

Pennsylvania Fostering Hope began in 2019, with the first chapter founded in Montgomery County. Fostering Hope Delco is the second in the state that now has seven chapters total.

Although the Delco chapter primarily serves residents in Delaware County, others from outside of the county who seek help will not be turned away.

Since its founding in Delaware County, Fostering Hope has received an outpouring of generosity from the community and local businesses, with support coming from Manoa Community Church in Havertown, St. Stephen’s Church in Norwood, Christ United Methodist Church in Brookhaven, Penn Wynne Presbyterian Church in Wynnewood, Bob’s Discount Furniture and others.

In addition to the foster-share closet, Fostering Hope Delco supports two other initiatives, which are Dignity Duffles and Bags of Hope.

The Dignity Duffles initiative addresses the need to eliminate the use of trash bags for children’s belongings. Dignity Duffles fold down to the size of a file folder but can hold an entire wardrobe inside. One Fostering Hope Delco volunteer has handmade dozens of quilts to add to the bags. Fostering Hope Delco gives these duffles to caseworkers to keep in their cars for immediate need.

“We are hoping to be a valuable resource for CYS and other agencies,” Jamison remarked. “We’ve been busy reaching out to CASA and other agencies who may be able to use our resources.”

In addition to giving each child a duffle bag, Fostering Hope Delco also gives Bags of Hope as a simple way to comfort a child entering foster care and offer emergency items to the foster family for those last-minute calls/placements. Drawstring backpacks are filled with basic items a family and child can use such as toiletries, nightlights, activity books, diapers, wipes, and other age and gender specific items.

Gansky, who is a former foster mother, says she continues to volunteer for Fostering Hope Delco to support other foster families.

“It’s very important to support foster families and their children in any way that we can, so they can continue to say ‘yes’ when they get that important all from CYS, any time of day or night,” Gansky said. “We don’t want to be Delco’s best kept secret. We want to be an asset to families and the only way we can do that is to get the word out that we are here to support and help in any way that we can.”

To volunteer or donate, call 484-442-0319. For more information, visit http://fosteringhopepa.com or on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/FosteringHopeDelco/

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