Help “FOSTER” Care

Help “FOSTER” Care

A non-profit project to assist Foster Care Youth “aging-out” of foster care.

Foster Care Furniture is a 501-C3 non-profit corporation, an all-volunteer organization, no one receives a salary. We provide foster care youth training in the manufacture of furniture, access to carpentry and woodworking skills, income during the training, accreditation, employment assistance, and the tools and opportunities they need to enhance their self-worth, live independently, and realize their full potential.

In most cases, foster care for children ends when the child becomes 18 years. However, the National Opinion Research Center reports that the full transition to adulthood does not happen until the age of 26. With no committed adult to assist them to overcome obstacles, it invites many problems. This program is designed to assist with the struggles these youths face in transitioning to adults.

FOSTER FURNITURE will create a furniture manufacturing shop. The shop will hire and train “aging- out” foster children to manufacture furniture to sell through participating retailers with all net proceeds going towards assisting foster care children.

Foster Care Furniture provides foster kids a free 13-week carpentry and woodworking training program. The trainees are paid $15 per hour during the training. Trainees assist in manufacturing furniture that is sold at participating retailers, and all the net proceeds go to foster care. At the end of the training, the youths are given a basic woodworking-carpentry certification they can use to assist them in acquiring employment. They can remain in the program and help instruct the next class in building more furniture or use their certification to assist in securing a job elsewhere.

Go Fund Me funds, and proceeds from the sale of furniture will be used to finance continued Foster Care Furniture operations. Donations will be used to hire instructors, purchase raw materials for making furniture, and other Foster Care Furniture operating expenses. Once Foster Care Furniture is established, the program should be self-sustaining, needing no outside funding, and will be able to contribute funds to other foster care programs.

FOSTER CARE FURNITURE will request guidance from the Department of Health and Welfare, the Idaho Department of Labor, and the U S Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Welfare to set up assistance to provide foster care young adults with counseling, and career planning.

Starting in Idaho and expanding to other states successful implementation of FOSTER CARE FURNITURE can offer thousands of foster children the support they need to successfully transition from foster care to independent adulthood.

As the founder of Protect Idaho Kids, and a Guardian Ad Litem for the 4th judicial district of Idaho, I believe this program will greatly help many of these foster children.

Bruce Wingate

President, Foster Care Furniture