Where did Gentry’s crib go?

It’s not news to most of you, but I have a very special place in my heart for not only non-profits but specifically for those involving children. Fostering, adopting, cancer, childhood illnesses… you name it and my heart has either poured into it or I am one story away from becoming the newest cheerleader for that non-profit.

I recently was contacted by Delta Children to begin a collaboration with them. As excited as I was to get this email, I was also excited that I will get to pay it forward and help someone in need. Gentry was going to be getting this new crib from Delta Children and I just knew I couldn’t sell or just trash his current crib. My friend Michelle, who happens to be a foster parent along with her husband Jeremy, reached out to me some time ago about this great non-profit called Jose’s Closet. In a nutshell, this non-profit is run by foster parents for foster parents to help them obtain furniture, clothes, school supplies… anything really to help their partners in the foster care system. I decided this would be the non-profit I would donate Gentry’s crib to. But what I didn’t expect was…

Ok so a little back story… Rewind to when I lived in Nashville. Lebanon at the time. I started volunteering for C.A.S.A which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate.

Your main goal is to work alongside local and state members to promote advocacy so that every abused and neglected child can be safe. To establish a safe permanent home where they can thrive. {click here for more info}

To be a C.A.S.A. volunteer, you have to go through a rigorous training – that at times is not only heartbreaking but very difficult to emotionally endure. I won’t fill you up with horrible statistics, but just know that the foster care system issue is not just an Arizona problem, or a Tennessee problem, it is a nationwide problem… And being a C.A.S.A. volunteer it was my way of being that one little person… to hopefully add my part to helping this -what seems to be- a never-ending foster care system dark hole. My heart poured into my practice case studies and I eventually received my first case. It was at that time that I knew I can’t leave children behind in this dark system. My heart yearns and aches for those sweet little children to this day.

So now fast forward a couple of years and here I am in Arizona. I have worked my tail off to establish myself with a job, a roof over my head and a soon-to-be fiance along for the ride. Married shortly thereafter and a little bun in the oven… Pretty much what I’m getting at is I had zero time to get re-certified in Arizona for the C.A.S.A. program. I am hoping {soon} this is something that I can tackle again. However, there are small ways that I (or even you) can help out our (or your) foster care system. Supporting your local foster care mama’s and daddy’s, volunteering for a one time event, or even reaching out to a local non-profit, like Jose’s Closet and see how you can help or donate.

So that’s just what I did with Gentry’s crib. I contacted Jose’s Closet and they let me know they most definitely will take my crib and even pick it up for me. What they didn’t tell me is, they were going to be sending my contact information directly Foster Mama. #MeltMyHeart…

Nancy is her name. And she has been fostering for some time now. She let me know that her little foster girl is actually in the process of reunification (going back to her biological mama’s arms) and this crib will actually HELP the process out to get her back to her Mama. In the plan, the Mama must have adequate sleeping area for the baby in order for him/her to come home. So that is just what this crib is doing. Helping that mama get her little baby back home. Excuse me while I pat my face with Kleenex.

We organized a time… And she came over, excited as ever. I got to meet the sweetest little girl who wasn’t very much older than Gentry. Gentry of course checked her out… my little flirt. They loaded up the crib and thanked me to the moon and back.

I couldn’t be more happy that our little crib is helping some Mama get reunited with her baby. Whatever her story is, at that moment my heart was filled to the brim just thinking of the smile that mama will get when she gets her baby back in her arms.

xoxo,