FAFS Foundation
Founded in December 2008, the Foster and Adoptive Family Services Foundation provides financial support to Foster and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS), a non-profit organization located in New Jersey. FAFS, incorporated in 1974, provides support, training and advocacy to meet the special needs of foster, adoptive and kinship families, who provide a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for children in foster care.
Homepage Flash
FAFS Foundation found the idea of having multiple flash banners for each one of their programs to be a great idea! Each one of their program pages on their website displays a slightly different flash banner. These banners are customized to fir the program.
Backpack Program
FAFS's goal of The Backpack Program is to provide each child entering foster care with a backpack that contains special items that help make the removal less traumatic. Backpacks are distributed to children when they enter foster care. The backpacks contain pajamas, toothbrushes, hair brushes, school supplies, journals, and even small stuffed animals, to help make the removal process a little less traumatic for our children.
Children in Care
Bedtime for Children in Care provides kids with a bedtime treat of a new book, and new PJs and slippers, to make bedtime story time special. Each of New Jersey’s 9,000 children in foster care has a story to tell.
Camping Scholarships
The Camp Scholarship Program is an initiative to provide children in foster care with the chance to attend a week of overnight camp at Camp Johnsonburg in Johnsonburg, NJ. Camp Johnsonburg provides a non-competitive environment where children can flourish and build self-confidence, while having fun.
Academic Scholarships
Foster and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS) offers academic scholarships and independent living grants to young people who have grown up in foster care, or who have been adopted through the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services foster care system. FAFS’ private scholarships and grants provide these youth with the assistance they need to follow their dreams and achieve success.
Fostering Wishes
Fostering Wishes for Children is a mini-grant program designed to provide children in foster care with a few of the little things that can help improve their quality of life. Fostering Wishes for Children grants allow these children to take advantage of opportunities that boost self-esteem, enrich their lives, and promote feelings of belonging.
Gift for Children
Through the A Gift for Every Child Program, Foster and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS) hosts holiday parties and provides holiday gifts for children residing in foster homes. FAFS’ holiday parties are a major component of this program. These parties are meant to provide children in foster care with the socializing opportunities they need to promote healthy emotional growth.
Support and Training
Foster and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS) provides support and training to resource parents in New Jersey. These families are the safety net for children who have been removed from their biological families due to abuse and neglect. Without these families, who volunteer their time and homes, children in foster care would have no place to live.
Volunteer Committees
When removed from birth parents, children also frequently lose all the relationships that have been important to them – friends, neighbors, classmates, teachers, and sometimes even siblings. It is no wonder that children in foster care often feel different and very much alone. The foster families who care for these children also face unique challenges and need opportunities to connect and learn from each other.