FOSTER CARE: Kids need your help, love

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to raise public awareness of the nearly 500,000 American children in foster care. These young people are living away from home because their own families are in crisis and unable to provide for their essential wellbeing.

Like all children, youth in foster care deserve and benefit from enduring relationships with caring adults. As a foster parent here in Coeur d’Alene, I have enjoyed the fulfillment of opening my home and heart to a young person in need. Being a foster parent has been important and satisfying.

There is an urgent need for many more everyday people who are willing to come forward and change a lifetime for a child in foster care. No matter how much time you have to give, you have the power to do something positive that will make a lasting difference in a young person’s life. Please visit www.fostercaremonth.org or call Idaho youth Ranch Adoption Services 667-1898 or 211 on the Idaho care line to find out about the many ways you can help.

BARBARA KINGEN

Coeur d’Alene