It is an especially important time of year at A Sense of Home. As we prepare for Foster Care Awareness Month in May, we celebrate National Volunteer Month, in April. ASOH would not exist if not for the brave young people who have endured the foster care system who have overcome against all odds. We would not be where we are, if not for our volunteers. These two months of spring are deeply interconnected for us at ASOH. Just as our recipients and volunteers are deeply interconnected.
During April, we honor and celebrate the great contributions of our volunteers. They are the engine, heart and soul of our work. What is so magical about ASOH is the fact that a great numbers of our volunteers, were once recipients. Having had their own homes created, many recipients pay it forward.
As ASOH looks to expanding nationwide this year and deepening its impact in LA, we have reflected on how we got so far so quickly. In acknowledgment of this, we will host our inaugural Volunteer Appreciation Event. It is an opportunity for our most engaged volunteers to gather as a community and celebrate one another.
As we prepare for Foster Care Awareness Month, we are expanding ways in which we will leverage our platform to give voice to those we serve and ensure their needs and concerns are heard. During the month of Foster Care Awareness, we also observe Mother’s Day. For those we serve, most have experienced life without a mother. Mother’s Day is an especially challenging and sensitive time.
87% of those A Sense of Home serves are young women, of which 54% have children of their own. According to research by the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall (which conducts the most extensive research on foster care), “Children born to youth from foster care have higher rates of child welfare services involvement than the children of adolescent parents in the general population.” If not for ASOH providing the foundation of home, these kids are at risk of entering the same foster system their parents endured. This video captures the impact and the importance of honoring the young mothers we serve .
We are especially grateful to the many young mothers who have been a recipient of ASOH and pay it forward almost every week with their daughters. The two who are most active will be honored at our Volunteer Appreciation Event: Michelle, has three children. Her two boys have ASD and she has created a support group for other young mothers with kids with ASD. In this video, Michelle conveys beautifully why she is so passionate about volunteering with her daughter, Olivia, at ASOH. Olivia has made such an impression on our community that she was recently profiled by LA Times Today as she volunteered with ASOH. Elizabeth is another young mom we celebrate this National Volunteer Month. Liz is the mother of Naomi whose impact on our recipients and each volunteer is profound.
As we enter spring and these important months, we can see that the magic of ASOH lies in the fact that seeds we plant today will bear fruit in ways, in places, and within people that we can’t even imagine. In her book, Rising Strong, Brene Brown writes, “Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to one another by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and belonging. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning, and purpose to our lives.” During the practice of the ASOH Home Creation, recipients and volunteers, as well as the recipients who are paying it forward, are privileged to experience the inextricable connection between one another. Simply because they show up.
Thank you to you ALL for continuing to show up. To break generational cycles. To reveal the best of humanity. To reveal the power greater than all of us.
Please share our Mother’s Campaign with your community to help us raise $80,000 to create homes for 10 mothers and their children. We remain so very grateful for your ongoing support, generosity and humanitarianism.
Written by Founder/CEO of ASOH, Georgie Smith
