Worthdays: A Social Worker’s Mission to Inspire Kids in the Foster Care System & How You Can Help! by Ann Marie G. Halstead

Worthdays is a non-profit in Virginia whose mission is “to ensure that children and youth impacted by the foster care system know that they are important, worthy and celebrated.” For instance, community members (both in and outside of Virginia) can make a difference by sponsoring birthday boxes so that the children have something to open on their birthdays, gifts selected specifically for them, along with notes of love and encouragement. 

In honor of Foster Care Awareness Month, Worthdays introduced their Letter Board Project, posing the question, “If you could tell the world one thing about foster care, what would it be?” The responses they received, from both children and adults, were eye-opening, poignant and heartbreaking.

We have included photos of the responses. Want to make a difference in the lives of children impacted by the child welfare system? Consider this charge from Worthdays founder, social worker Caroline Neal: “May we be charged to raise our voices in response to being enraged about the brokenness of the system while also stepping in to be the very shoulder these young people need to cry on."

"Whether you want to inquire about fostering, want to provide an internship to a youth aging out of foster care or want to help celebrate a child who otherwise will not be celebrated, it will take us all," Caroline adds. Visit Worthdays.org for more information.