Love For A Child

AN ADVOCATE FOR FOSTERING OPPORTUNITIES

By Robbyn Moore

Michigan ranks #3 in the U.S. for having the lowest quality foster care development for agencies and caseworkers. As a result, numerous children, youth and families within the foster care system are underfunded, under supported and without care. However, thanks to Joe and Michelle Savalle, founders and executive directors of Love For A Child — and advocates for foster care families through education and by being voices in the community — children are getting opportunities to be seen, nurtured and mentored.

Joe and Michelle work across Michigan in direct partnership with agencies to provide cost-free opportunities for families in need, with the direct intention to help offset Michigan’s overwhelmed and rapidly growing foster care industry. With nearly 15,000 kids in foster care, most kids do not get opportunities to have tailored experiences when they’re in transition. Love For A Child finds the most overlooked demographic of children in Michigan who are statistically predicted to fail out of high school, become addicted to drugs or age out of care without purpose, and provides life-changing experiences through summer camps, year-round programming and overall support.

“We work around the clock with our own developing partners to raise awareness and support for kids living within these circumstances,” Joe said. “Our challenge is that we picked a much overlooked industry; however, we couldn’t be more honored to make these children our focus, because if it was easy, there would be more programs like this out there.”

Founded in 2012, Love For A Child is a faith-focused, 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization that focuses on impacting children who have experienced traumas such as abandonment, neglect and different forms of abuse. The organization has created and facilitates overnight camps and mentorship opportunities for children and youth, as well as tailored resources for foster families to meet the specific needs within their care. “The program was designed to meet the child in their time of need through a one-week, overnight camp to gain trust and understanding,” Michelle explained. “Each designated camp throughout Michigan selects 40 foster children to attend camp, which are hosted by over 200 trauma-informed, trained volunteers who selflessly dedicate their time and compassion for children in care.”

Every year, the camp rolls out the royal treatment and celebrates each child with activities such as swimming, rock climbing, arts and crafts, a birthday party, princess tea party or man walk, boat rides and bonfires. “We also teach them that no matter their background or challenge, God’s protection can travel with them wherever their story and journey takes them,” Joe shared. “People often see us as just a camp for kids or another child attending a baseball game on a Saturday, but people need to know these children — who have been written off at young ages — have a tremendous lack of support or lack families to take them in.”

Beyond the camp, each child enters a mentorship program where they are seen in monthly sessions by a committed Love For A Child mentor who serves and supports them. “Whether it’s a holiday, birthday, graduation or just a sunny day, we are there for each child to provide leadership, guidance and a forever friendship,” Joe said. “Once a child enters a program, our goal is to walk them through adolescence and high school, and then into college and adulthood; we are there for the entire process.”

Many children in foster care will move homes throughout their journey, and it is the organization’s hope to be a constant throughout the changes. The purpose within the program is to provide overlooked children a place where kids can be themselves. “We want to be an example to kids by showing them that, through God’s love, hurt can be healed,” Michelle explained. “By giving them hope, the loss can be filled with actions of authentic love.”

The program has many success stories, but the one that stands out the most for Joe and Michelle is when a 10-year-old boy named Timmy came to camp 11 years ago. “This kid was athletic, sensitive and obedient,” they recalled. “We could not fathom how this child was labeled as ‘damaged’ and ‘living with rage.’ After Timmy attended the camp, we made it our mission to mentor and visit him on a monthly basis. We soon discovered that Timmy was left alone to fend for himself for nine weeks — eating nothing but dry cereal, cake and scraps, which eventually led to him eating the grass on the front lawn due to starvation.” Joe continued, “At this point, our monthly visits were designed to assist the child and their family with any food needs, clothing assistance and benevolence aid they needed while also mentoring and creating positive memories for the child. The goal is to give a childhood back from where it was stolen.”

Timmy went on to graduate from high school and received a full-ride college scholarship. He is now 22 years old, a high school wrestling coach and one of the head mentors at Love For A Child. He is a living example of the program’s ultimate goals: mentor children and create leaders, who can then serve as mentors and examples for the program. “We believe the best impact we can give to these children’s lives is a sense of purpose and direction,” Michelle said.

At the age of 36, Joe has spent more than half of his life — 18 years’ worth of experience — being involved with foster care advocacy, outreach programs and camps. With no signs of slowing down, he’s currently managing two offices in Michigan with his wife, and is opening a third location in 2022. “Our success is not based on how much fundraising dollars we raise or how many media articles are written; rather, it’s the moment a child who is living in trauma and abuse no longer lives in fear and begins to walk in freedom,” he said.

Love For A Child welcomes volunteers and enjoys seeing professionals find creative ways to financially support the organization. Recently, former Detroit Tigers player Andy Dirks of eXp Realty partnered with Love For A Child in 2021 by giving 5% of his sales to the group. “It’s a great partnership when a real estate agent lets their client know that the sale or purchase of their home provided an opportunity to a foster child,” Joe shared.

To find more information about Love For A Child or how to get involved, visit loveforachild.org. To get in contact with Joe directly, email Joe@loveforachild.org or call 586-873-0378.

Love For A Child - Charity Spotlight