Help Every - Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition

Dear Friends,
Another year and more good news to share! The past year has been great for the
Coalition – our new Extreme Recruitment® program has been featured in the New York
Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and our phones rang with inquiries from “The
Oprah Show”, “60 Minutes” and Time Magazine. Why the interest? Extreme
Recruitment® works! We now find homes for children (the hardest-to-place older youth,
sibling groups and children with emotional, developmental, or physical concerns) in 12-
20 weeks instead of the 24 months it used to take.
Extreme Recruitment® has the potential to revolutionize the child welfare system. Foster
care was designed to provide a safe, temporary place for abused children. Sadly,
many of our kids are spending entire childhoods in foster care. Extreme Recruitment® is
changing that. Coalition staff members have already traveled across the country to
train other child welfare professionals in this new model. Funds raised this evening will
directly support the Extreme Recruitment® program.
There are many people to thank: Co-chairs Susan Block and Jackie Olinger and all the
committee members. These women are so dedicated to improving the lives of foster
children. Thanks also to all the volunteers who are selling raffle tickets, staffing the
tables, and working the bank, and the wonderful Zoo staff. Special thanks to our very
generous sponsors and everyone who donated handbags. When you patronize these
businesses, please thank them for supporting our kids!
I hope you enjoy the fourth annual Old Bags Party, visiting with friends, bidding on
gorgeous handbags, and sampling the yummy food. Every purchase you make gets us
closer to finding a place to call home for every child.
The members of our Board of Directors and our staff join me in thanking you for your
generous support. Have a great evening!
All the best,
Melanie Scheetz
Executive Director
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