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