COLUMBUS, Ohio — One Columbus nonprofit has been helping foster kids adjust to new environments. Stitched Together provides Hope Cases to children that are removed from their homes.
The organization started two years ago after Karie Griffin, a licensed foster parent, saw foster kids arrive at their new homes with no belongings. Stitched Together collects donations of comfort and essential items, assembles them into backpacks, to be distributed to go to foster agencies.
“You have these kids, regardless of where they came from, or why they are being removed from their homes, taken out of that environment and put into a stranger’s home with nothing,” said Griffin. “You don’t even have a blanket, a favorite stuffed animal, an outfit that you like to wear, I mean they are going with nothing. It just breaks your heart because it is just more trauma they have to endure when they’ve already been removed from the only place they’ve ever known.”
Griffin says the children are extremely grateful to receive items, and they can take them with them each place they go.
The pandemic was hard on Stitched Together, according to Griffin. As everything shut down last year, so did donations. It wasn’t until May and June that donations started coming back in to support foster children.
Griffin is hopeful that they will be able to beat their donation goal this year, in addition to breaking the stigma that surrounds the foster care system.
“Our society thinks these foster kids are just ‘bad kids’ that come from ‘bad homes,’ and they’re not,” said Griffin. “These are just kids that come from broken families and they need love, they need support, and they need a community to rally around them.”
To donate items on the Stitched Together Amazon wish list, click here.
