foster care

Filling the Gap: Loads of Love

in Our Youth / Uncategorized  by Sam K 0 comments

“It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.”
― John Joseph Powell

When foster youths struggle to survive, personal hygiene is often not a priority. Many of these young people lack access to regular showers, clean clothes, or even a toothbrush.

Without access to these basic necessities, foster youths are at a disadvantage when competing for jobs or attending school. They may be embarrassed and ashamed of their appearance, which can lead to low self-esteem.

Many residents come to The Launch Pad with only the bare necessities in terms of daily hygiene products. When working under very tight financial constraints they might not think about hygiene items when they go shopping at the store.

Loads of Love steps in to fill this gap. We load a basket with hygiene products and place it in each resident’s room when they move into The Launch Pad so that they feel loved and taken care of. Often, this means providing shampoo, conditioner, bath soaps, towels, and other washing materials. This also opens the door for teaching our residents about basic hygiene habits – skills that many of them lack when they first move to The Launch Pad.

Maintaining good personal hygiene helps to develop positive self-esteem.  It also sends the message to potential employers that you are presentable and capable of taking care of yourself. For many of our residents, this is the first time they have had access to regular showers, clean clothes, and other basic hygiene products.

The Launch Pad is committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment for all of our residents. We also provide laundry detergent, fabric softener, and other related items so that they can do their own laundry. This not only helps to keep them clean but also teaches them an important life skill.

Thanks to the wonderful donations from Loads of Love, we are also able to keep a supply of these goods in our donation closets for our residents’ use and on a broader scale, to send out to foster youth in need.

So, grab your small groups, family, etc and bring on over some loads of love!

Email kaitlin@teenleadershipfoundation.org now to arrange drop off.

Be There

in Mentor Stories  by Sam K 0 comments

This past year I was given a 17-year-old camper to lead for Teen Leadership Camp weekend. We’ll call her Sherrie. Sherrie was a particularly complicated girl. At times she was so mature but could suddenly switch over to reveal the broken heart of a very needy child.

She informed me how much she despises team building activities at camp because she never wants to be touched without her consent. As Sherrie spoke, she opened up about her years of sexual abuse and how difficult it is for her to accept physical contact from others.

Sherrie told me she considered herself to be a Christian, but she didn’t believe God existed. I told her it wasn’t possible to have it both ways…that being a Christian required faith in God. Then she explained that she didn’t believe He existed because He never answered her when she called for help during those years of abuse. I momentarily wondered if I should have somehow better prepared myself to answer this deep theological conundrum. You see, before camp, I found myself worrying I wasn’t spiritually “fit” or “adequate” enough to lead these teens.

I took a breath and told Sherrie that I don’t understand why God doesn’t always rescue us when we ask, but I did know that He had a plan to make something beautiful out of her life if she would let Him. Sherrie became extremely angry at that moment and began to shut me out. I told her I would be praying that God would reveal Himself to her and that she would experience the great peace He has to offer. She responded, “Whatever floats your boat,” and walked away.

Our next activity was chapel. I found Sherrie sitting alone so I sat by her, making sure to give her plenty of space. As chapel went on, she slid a little closer and a closer to me until she was right next to me. Then she held my hand. Then she leaned. Then her head was on my shoulder. Finally, her other hand found its way into the front pocket of my sweatshirt where she clutched tighter and tighter onto the fabric to the point where I’m certain her knuckles were white. I wrapped my arms around her in a big bear hug, rocked her, and told her I loved her.

Sherrie and I stayed in the chapel, and I never let go. I hugged and cried. That was my job. That’s what God put me there for at that very moment. I told her I was so sorry for all the pain she had gone through. She never pulled away once. It reminded me of holding my own girls when they were toddlers.

Later after all the campers had gone home, one of the other counselors told me that Sherrie had shared with her about our time in the chapel where we had held each other so tightly. Sherrie told her that it had meant more to her than I would ever know because she’s never felt that safe around someone, someone who could hold her, listen to her, and love her in her most honest and vulnerable state.

That truly was my job that weekend. Not to be a spiritual encyclopedia, but to be the hands and feet of Christ. To love with Christ’s love. To be available.

We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your support and partnership with TLF, which has made events like this possible. It’s national foster care month, and we want to thank you for supporting us.

Art Therapy

Art Therapy

in Our Youth  by Lisa 0 comments

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Some of our Launch Pad residents spent a peaceful afternoon working through art therapy for inner exploration. The young women giggled and murmured as they created paintings depicting the joy in their lives.

At our Santa Ana Launch Pad home, the Hanger was an ideal location to spread out and express oneself. Multi-talented Karin of Framewerk Imaging, our own social enterprise, shared his therapeutic training by leading residents in the exercise.

Every one of them, in their own words, stated how much they liked it. The emotional release of drawing, painting, or sculpture can have healing and therapeutic effects for foster youth. These calming methods of working through emotions and expressing oneself can help to understand certain things that talk therapy cannot articulate.

At The Launch Pad, we are much more than simply a guardian for these young people; instead, we work with them to help them realize their untapped potential and ambitions. We provide a variety of services and support that help kids transition into adulthood. A personalized “take-off strategy” is developed to meet each young person’s unique life objectives.

Your kindness and care for our Launch Pad residents has helped make this wonderful creative break and other activities like it possible. Thank you so much for your love and attention to these young women as they begin rebuilding their lives — it is appreciated!

Creating Systematic & Sustainable Change

in Uncategorized  by Lisa 0 comments

Teen Leadership Foundation continues to be a powerful force linking the faith community to local governments. By supporting our partnering organizations with assistance, awareness and organizational training we are able to promote systemic and sustainable change in the lives of emancipating youth.  TLF continues to be recognized as a growing nation-wide organization that is continually creating a voice that would not normally be heard. Recently TLF was asked to write an article in Fostering Families Today on how we work to provide better outcomes for youth in care. TLF’s founder, Lisa Castetter, decided to write the article from her own personal journey in mentoring, the path through it and the outcomes from it. 

The article is titled: Closing the Chasm of the Team

As we approach the summer months and prepare for our multiple leadership camps around Southern California and the Pacific Northwest contact your local church partner for more information on how you can become a long term life changing mentor to a youth in foster care.

-Teen Leadership Foundation

Lisa will be speaking at Summit 9 in Nashville, Tennessee May 2-3.