Baby, It's Cold Outside
Happy 2014! With the onset of the New Year, so came the cold weather. Not enjoyable, let's build a snowman and make hot cocoa while our mittens dry by the fire cold weather. No, this kind of cold came with warnings not to be outside longer than necessary, and school closings due to temperature drops instead of snow-covered roadways.
And, people, I needed my children to go back to school. Christmas has come and gone, the novelty of sleeping in and lounging in PJs had lost it's glamour, and the natives were restless. It didn't help that these last two days, while the sky may be clear, they couldn't go outdoors to play because it was just too cold. I feared we were getting ready to be an updated version of The Shining. When I give the instructions to read quietly to yourself, and instead I have one complaining of injury with an ice pack on his face and another hiding out in her room, we have a problem. Since when is quiet reading time a contact sport? We needed space from one another. Bring on the homework and the 9:00 bedtime, I say!
Facebook was littered with updates about school closings, complaints when the schools stayed close another day, and dire warnings to please bring your animals indoors (my cat hated the confinement and made sure that everyone heard just how much he thought staying indoors was an infringement on his rights as a wild animal and that he would keep up his protesting until we set him free or until he needed to take a food/water break).
I don't know about you, but every time it gets to be this time of year and I'm forced outdoors, I get to thinking. I make that desperate run to the car, which I have started early so the heat can kick in. My teeth are chattering, every muscle in my body is tensed up just trying to hold whatever residual heat I possess in. Whether I'm going to be in the frigid air for 2 minutes or 15, I have coat, gloves, scarf and possibly hat. (depends on the hair style, I can't be messing up a fabulous do with a woolly toboggan, no matter how adorbs I look with it on)
Anyhow, I get to thinking about homeless people that have no indoors to run to. Why put forth the effort to try and hold what body heat you have in, when you don't have any body heat to begin with. If being homeless wasn't enough, now you have to endure the frigid temperatures that could possibly be life threatening. I can't begin to fathom how you would make it from day to day. Who am I that I am here in my warm and cozy home, while someone else is sleeping in a box beside the dumpster?
All this thinking leads me to what I'd like to share with you today. Statistics show that 29,000 youth, on average, age out of foster care and will likely end up in poverty with little to no support. 3 of 10 of the nation’s homeless report they were at one point in foster care.
According to the chidwelfare.gov website, in 2012:
I don't know what great resolution you've made for the year 2014, or what change you wish to make to impact the world around you, but maybe you could consider fostering a child. There are plenty stories of foster families out there, both good and bad, and I understand stepping out into the unknown is a scary thing.
So, hear me out, consider signing up for a foster care training class. No one expects you to take this step overnight. You don't sign a paper and the following day pick a child up from the waiting area. Before you can become a foster parent, there are things you must do, and one of them is to attend training. With other people who are in the same boat as you sailing uncharted waters. And, I don't know about you, but there's comfort in educating yourself. There's strength to be found when you realize you aren't in this alone.
If you live in the Nelson/Hardin/Marion County area of Kentucky, I'm going to help you take that first step. Starting in 2014, foster care classes will begin on:
If you're not in my area, then take to the internet! Go directly to your favorite search engine and type in your state along with cabinet for families and children or community services. Ask people around you if they know someone who fosters and get in touch with them. Someone knows exactly what you need to do, not to mention, you may find a foster parent who can give you some insight on what it's like to be a foster parent.
Baby, it is cold outside, but maybe, in 2014, your home could be a place of warmth that a child needs.
And, people, I needed my children to go back to school. Christmas has come and gone, the novelty of sleeping in and lounging in PJs had lost it's glamour, and the natives were restless. It didn't help that these last two days, while the sky may be clear, they couldn't go outdoors to play because it was just too cold. I feared we were getting ready to be an updated version of The Shining. When I give the instructions to read quietly to yourself, and instead I have one complaining of injury with an ice pack on his face and another hiding out in her room, we have a problem. Since when is quiet reading time a contact sport? We needed space from one another. Bring on the homework and the 9:00 bedtime, I say!
I don't know about you, but every time it gets to be this time of year and I'm forced outdoors, I get to thinking. I make that desperate run to the car, which I have started early so the heat can kick in. My teeth are chattering, every muscle in my body is tensed up just trying to hold whatever residual heat I possess in. Whether I'm going to be in the frigid air for 2 minutes or 15, I have coat, gloves, scarf and possibly hat. (depends on the hair style, I can't be messing up a fabulous do with a woolly toboggan, no matter how adorbs I look with it on)
Anyhow, I get to thinking about homeless people that have no indoors to run to. Why put forth the effort to try and hold what body heat you have in, when you don't have any body heat to begin with. If being homeless wasn't enough, now you have to endure the frigid temperatures that could possibly be life threatening. I can't begin to fathom how you would make it from day to day. Who am I that I am here in my warm and cozy home, while someone else is sleeping in a box beside the dumpster?
All this thinking leads me to what I'd like to share with you today. Statistics show that 29,000 youth, on average, age out of foster care and will likely end up in poverty with little to no support. 3 of 10 of the nation’s homeless report they were at one point in foster care.
According to the chidwelfare.gov website, in 2012:
- 399,546 children were in foster care
- 47% of those were in non-relative foster family homes
- 28% were in relative foster family homes
- 9% were in an institution
- 6% were in group homes
- 6% were on trial home visits
- 4% were in preadoptive homes
- 1% were in supervised independent living; and
- 1% had run away
I don't know what great resolution you've made for the year 2014, or what change you wish to make to impact the world around you, but maybe you could consider fostering a child. There are plenty stories of foster families out there, both good and bad, and I understand stepping out into the unknown is a scary thing.
So, hear me out, consider signing up for a foster care training class. No one expects you to take this step overnight. You don't sign a paper and the following day pick a child up from the waiting area. Before you can become a foster parent, there are things you must do, and one of them is to attend training. With other people who are in the same boat as you sailing uncharted waters. And, I don't know about you, but there's comfort in educating yourself. There's strength to be found when you realize you aren't in this alone.
If you live in the Nelson/Hardin/Marion County area of Kentucky, I'm going to help you take that first step. Starting in 2014, foster care classes will begin on:
- February 10th informational meeting with classes located in Hardin County on Saturdays
- March 10th informational meeting with classes located in Hardin County on Tuesday and Thursday evenings
- April 21st informational meeting with classes located in Hardin County on Saturdays
If you're not in my area, then take to the internet! Go directly to your favorite search engine and type in your state along with cabinet for families and children or community services. Ask people around you if they know someone who fosters and get in touch with them. Someone knows exactly what you need to do, not to mention, you may find a foster parent who can give you some insight on what it's like to be a foster parent.
Baby, it is cold outside, but maybe, in 2014, your home could be a place of warmth that a child needs.
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