Agape Villages Aims to Reunite 55,000 Foster Children in California with Their Biological Parents
The holidays are the perfect time to appreciate the efforts of those who work tirelessly to improve the lives of others. Agape Villages is an organization that places kids who have been removed from their biological homes into loving foster homes, with the goal of reunification with their biological family if possible.
Agape Villages began in 1958 as the Sierra Children's Home and has since grown into a network that encompasses 14 counties throughout northern California. Since its inception, it has assisted 6,410 youths and more than 500 families.
Efforts like these are necessary to battle a distressing trend: more than 55,000 children are in foster care in California. Agape Villages provides every service to ensure that foster youths find happiness and success. Since medical, behavioral, and emotional issues can be significant obstacles for foster kids, Agape provides access to health services, counseling, and therapy. Each youth also receives weekly visits from a master's level social worker, who is available 24/7, 365 days a year.
Due to a lack of resources, many foster children are unable to join traditional youth activities. Agape Villages offers the Enrichment Program, which provides the means for youths to attend art classes, learn to play instruments, participate in sports, take dance lessons, or join summer camps and youth groups. These activities provide some normalcy while also fostering creativity and building friendships.
In addition, through the Independent Living Skills Program, Agape Villages teaches all the skills needed in the academic and professional realms. These services include tutoring, college preparation, job training, and essential life advice, like basic legal concepts, office etiquette, and shopping and cooking skills (among others).
Financial support from organizations such as Agape Villages also lightens the monetary burden: foster youths receive less than $10,000 on average, compared to the (just under) median of $50,000 that biological parents spend on their young adult children after the age of 18.
As a non-profit, the efforts of Agape Villages rely on donations and support from the community and local institutions, including churches, rotary clubs, the Kiwanis, and women's groups.
Agape Villages also raises money through a couple of light-hearted annual events. The Jail and Bail event begins with the arrival of a fake subpoena, inviting donors to play out a mock trial in a faux courtroom presided over by a robed "judge." The most recent Jail and Bail raised $16,000
in a single day, shattering the previous record of $10,000 by 60 percent, according to Community Engagement Director Jennifer Oxe.
Agape also hosts a yearly fundraising dinner event, with a silent auction and wine raffle, that draws between $40,000 and $50,000 in donations. It would have certainly helped this year as well if COVID hadn't forced its cancellation.
No outside force can derail Agape Villages' philanthropy, and Beltim is proud to support an organization that every day makes a tough time (in a tough year) a whole lot better for many foster youths and families.