Fostering Connections
Promoting Safe and Loving Spaces for LGBTQ+ Children and Foster Parents
Through marketing, foster parent training support, and recruitment of LGBTQIA2S+ foster parents, Blue Ridge Pride is happy to work alongside Caring for Children to increase the number of safe and loving spaces for foster child placement wherever the child identifies on the sexuality and gender identity/expression spectrums. Scroll down to read more about what is needed and how we are partnering.
“One Weekend a Year”
Oftentimes when adults think about fostering, they imagine a long-term placement that may bring a lot of joy, heartache, or both. But Western NC foster children sometimes just need a safe and loving home to go to for a weekend, a few days, or even just one day when their foster family is away, or when the family they are being reunited with needs respite. That’s why we’ve started the “One Weekend a Year” campaign to identify LGBTQIA2S+ households that are open to this small way to make a positive impact in the life of a child. Please fill out the interest form below, and someone will be in touch!
“Your children are not your children; they are the sons and the daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”
~Khalil Gibran
-
Blue Ridge Pride sought funding in 2022 to support LGBTQ+ foster parents and children due to the special needs of LGBTQ+ youth and the growing number of LGBTQ+ adults having families (thanks to supportive laws!)
-
Caring for Children is a local foster and adoption agency that has a track record of supporting and promoting the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Beyond “acceptance,” they believe the queer community deserves inclusion and belonging.
-
Blue Ridge Pride has a large reach across LGBTQIA2S+ communities of Western North Carolina. We leverage that reach through digital, print, social media and radio marketing to recruit foster parents. We also provide tangible support to Caring for Children for training supplies, including books, food, venue space, etc.
-
In 2022, we received a $5000 Tipping Point grant through Buncombe County. In 2023, our efforts were able to continue due to a $6000 grant from the Land of the Sky Association of Realtors. All of Blue Ridge Pride’s services are also funded through our generous donors. If you like what you see, please click on the “Give Proudly” link at the top.
Blue Ridge Pride envisions a thriving LGBTQ+ community in Western North Carolina that welcomes and elevates us all.