Making Memories

4KIDS family-style homes are a unique blend of traditional foster care and residential living. Instead of having a staff of shift workers like a traditional group home, 4KIDS family-style homes have full time house parents living in the home, available to the kids at all times. “Our house parents provide the kids with the consistency they long for as they navigate the foster care system,” shared Christal Neal, Residential Case Manager. Through the daily car rides to school to having dinner together before bed, deep bonds are developed between the house parents and kids and life-long memories are created.

Girls Place is one of 4KIDS family-style homes geared toward girls ages 13-17. Courtney, the house mom there, recently planned a Cinco de Mayo themed dinner for her house to celebrate one of the girl’s heritage. After making enchiladas and sipping on Jarritos soda, they all learned about Mexican culture and had a blast with one another!

“Our house parents provide the kids with the consistency they long for.”

Kids Place is another 4KIDS family-style home where sibling groups of 3-5 children are able to stay together. The new house mom, Lisa, recently took in a sibling group of three. On their first weekend together, she took all of them to her friend’s farm and petting zoo. The kids were overwhelmed with joy at the sight of all the animals, and begged for her to take them back again.

These ladies are just two of four house parents who are providing kids in foster care with a sense of normalcy that they could have missed out on. Nearly all of the kids in 4KIDS family-style homes are involved in some kind of extracurricular activity, from jiu-jitsu, to step team, marching band, and more.

Both large sibling groups and teen girls often have difficulty finding traditional foster homes that can care for them. We are so grateful for the consistent dedication that these parents have for kids, they make 4KIDS family-style homes possible!