This morning, Mayor Levar
Stoney opened the newly renovated Child Protective Services Room at Richmond’s
Department of Social Services. Thanks to leaders from the faith, nonprofit and
business community, the room will now serve as a comforting space for young
people while they await foster care placement.
The principal partners in
this effort were the Virginia office of ENV Architecture and Design, local
nonprofit organizations RVA Comfort Cases and Worthdays and churches in the For
Richmond network. Together, the organizations’ donors and volunteers
transformed the city’s multi-purpose room into four calming and age-appropriate
zones for children in the custody of Richmond Social Services.
The new space is both
practical and welcoming, thanks to the collaboration of the city’s partners. Second
Baptist Church member Ralph Costen, owner of Costen Floors, donated and
installed a new floor. Home Inspections of Virginia installed sound-proofing
panels. The Soho Center donated books, and Build-A-Bear donated teddy bears.
There are currently 255
children in foster care in the City of Richmond, the highest number in the
Richmond Metro Area. Each month, approximately 13 young people enter foster
care in the city.
“We rallied the groups
around one shared vision: supporting the most vulnerable children in our
community,” said Mayor Stoney. “These partners immediately embraced that vision,
and I’m grateful for their dedication.”
“Coordination allowed these
valued community partners to do so much more for young people coming into care
than any one organization could do on its own,” said Director of Social
Services Shunda Giles. “This space will help mitigate the trauma that young
people experience when they have to be separated from their family. It also doubles
as a break room for our hard-working social workers, who are on the front lines
caring for so many of our city’s most vulnerable residents.”
Caroline Neal, founder of
Worthdays, conducted surveys of social workers and youth who have aged out of
the foster care system to determine how the space could best benefit the
community. “It was important to us that the renovations to this room were
reflective of the people who use it on a daily basis: the hard-working staff of
the agency and kids experiencing the trauma of a removal from their home. The
vision that agency staff had for this room along with the wisdom of youth who
have experienced a room such as this really shaped the renovations.”
Second Baptist Church, Area
10 Faith Community, Movement Church and LUX Church played key roles in the
project. “We now have 10 churches that are partnering with Richmond City DSS
throughout the year to support social workers and birth families, recruit and
retain foster parents and mentor youth who are aging out of foster care,” said For
Richmond Co-Director Anna Shenk. “The need is great, and we invite others to
join us in this important work.”
Area 10 Faith Community
Connections Pastor Topher Lytle said, “Our church has been committed to
addressing the foster care crisis for years, but we’ve never done anything on
this scale with the Department of Social Services. We are grateful to be part
of this team effort and look forward to doing even more in the future.”
“We are so grateful to be
able to supply our signature Comfort Cases, which include age specific items
like blankets, books, plush toys and new pajamas,” said Lauren Cash, the leadership
coordinator for RVA Comfort Cases. The organization will also be stocking and
organizing key supplies like diapers, clothing and blankets.
Architect Whitney Campbell
of ENV Virginia, a Richmond City foster parent, shared how significant it was
for her to be able to marry her passion for fostering with her architecture and
design business. “When I learned about the project through my church’s
involvement in For Richmond, I knew immediately that I wanted to help. I’m
passionate about caring for kids in foster care and I’m passionate about good
design, so it was only natural that that my firm, ENV, would be involved in
this important effort.”
Mayor Stoney highlighted
that there are opportunities to care for children in foster care throughout the
year. “Not everyone is called to foster, but we are all called to care. All of
these organizations present an opportunity to get involved and give back,” said
Mayor Stoney. “This collaboration gets back to what it’s all about: ensuring
every child in our city knows they’re heard, seen and loved.”
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