Ep 75: Care Communities Impact

In this episode of Fostering Conversations, host Amy Smith welcomes Tami Jenny, Jenny, and Lexi to discuss the growing impact of the Care Communities program. Together, they explore how groups of volunteers provide meaningful, trauma-informed support to foster families across Utah. 

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Transcript:

[00:00:00] On today’s episode of Fostering Conversations, we’ll be talking about the Care Communities program, how to get involved, and how great it is to be a part of.

Amy: Welcome to Fostering Conversations. I’m your host, Amy Smith. Today we have Tami Jenny and Lexi joining us, who all work for Utah Foster Care. Thanks for joining us, you guys.

Tami: Thanks for having us

Jenny: Glad to be here

Amy: All of you are involved in the Care Communities program. Lexi’s the director over communications, but she is the leader of a Care Community, so she’s joining us with that perspective today. So maybe let’s have, Tammy or Jenny just explain to us briefly what Care Communities is, and then we’ll dive [00:01:00] into how people can get involved, Lexi’s experience as a care team leader

Tami: I would love for Jenny to introduce the Care Communities program. She’s one of our coordinators and our statewide trainer for the program

Jenny: Absolutely. So the Care Communities program is a program that gathers eight to 10 individuals in a community, whether it’s faith-based, just community-based, business-based, to be able to surround one foster family with support, practical, emotional, and, physical supports to b- help them be able to better provide, care for the children, that come into their homes that come from hard places

Amy: Yeah. So what I love about Care Communities is that it gives the opportunity for our community members to participate in the foster care experience without being a foster parent, because not everybody can be a foster parent.

It is quite taxing, and you do need to have the time and ability to be able to do that. But Lexi is a care team leader. Lexi, tell us a little bit about [00:02:00] why you wanted to become a care team leader

Lexi: Yeah. So I was actually already working at Utah Foster Care when I decided I wanted to be part of a care community or a care team. and I’ve just always had such a soft spot in my heart for, foster families and kids in care and just wanting to help and be involved and, have lots of really cool, great opportunities to do that, obviously through work.

But, my position’s a little more behind the scenes, less involved one-on-one directly with the families and so I was still missing that piece or wanting that piece, in my life. And so I was like, “Yeah, I have extra hours during the month that I’d love to just spend helping out, directly with a foster family and kids in care.”

I reached out to Tammy and said, “Hey, I… Is it a conflict of interest if I also join the care team working here at Utah Foster Care?” And she said, “No, absolutely not. Go right ahead.” And, it’s been great to put the team together, and we’ve been serving, a [00:03:00] family in our area since, since May, so about the last, six months or so.

Amy: Okay. And how did it all come about? So you are the care community team leader. Did you recruit friends? Did… How does that happen? if somebody’s like, “I wanna be involved in this,” what do they have to do?

Lexi: Yeah, absolutely. There’s a couple ways to go about it. there’s the inquiry form online on, UtahCareCommunities.org that people can just go to register or fill out a form and say, “Hey, I’m interested in being part of a care team.” the cool part about that is behind the scenes, the care communities coordinators are, gathering all of these inquiries and trying to put together teams from, individuals in the community, and form a team that way.

The way it worked, for me, though, is I, just had a connection with my church, being in a leadership position and just knowing a lot of people around me, so I started recruiting, a few other volunteers to come join me. I said, “Hey, there’s this really awesome volunteer [00:04:00] opportunity. it’s a little bit longer of a commitment,” right?

It’s not a one-time service thing. It’s six months to a year, which makes it, for me, super meaningful because you really get to know the people, and it’s just great. So I did a little bit of recruiting, to get some people, and then my care communities coordinator, for my regional area, she’s like, “Hey, there’s actually another young adult group that’s trying to form a team.

You each have about five people. What would you think about joining forces to create one team and serve someone a l- in the middle demographically?” And that’s what we did.

Amy: Okay, that’s awesome. So that’s great to know for community members. They can create a team, or if they fill out that inquiry, it then goes to Jenny or whoever is that local person who then can start working on putting people together. Is it based on location or what is it based on?

Jenny: Yeah, it’s based on, we try to group the teams together by geographic location because we want to make it, the least, challenging to be able to [00:05:00] serve these families. And so when we can group p- people together in a geographic location, it helps. It

Amy: that makes sense. Yeah, like you wanna make it the least inconvenient,

Jenny: Yes.

Amy: want this person to be close to you and accessible. So okay, I love that, that you can create like your own start or just reach out and be like, “Hey, I’m willing. Send me where you need me to go,” kind of situation. So that’s awesome.

Lexi, what has been your experience… I guess I’m getting ahead of myself. After you guys created the team, you then go to a trauma-informed training. Is that correct? So tell us a little bit about that, and then maybe Jenny or Tammy can also contribute, what kind of information and what help these trainings offer

Lexi: Yeah. the training was really wonderful. Jenny was actually the one who taught, or provided the training for our group. and it’s such a wonderful experience. It’s the first time… there’s a little bit of administrative stuff the first few weeks in creating a care team because this is a, a little bit longer term, opportunity to serve.

You’re [00:06:00] getting everyone on board. Once all the team members have said, “Yep, we understand the program. We’ve signed all the confidentiality stuff. we’re good to go,” then we meet together in person. And so that’s all the team members and the foster family, which is really great. we get to sit and talk with the parents, get to know them, they get to know us.

And then the trauma-informed training is so wonderful, and I think it’s really the key piece of Care Communities being successful and as meaningful of a program as it is. because there’s just differences. There’s things that people aren’t exposed to or familiar with, in supporting children who have experienced trauma, whether it’s behaviors or, just situations that might come up that the trauma-informed training really gives you a solid background and understanding to say, “Oh, I remember learning about this.

this is still unfamiliar to me, but I feel like now I have tools of like I remember in the training they said, to try this or do that.” and [00:07:00] really I’ve found, the training helpful to lean back on as well as other members of our care team. It’s been really great.

Amy: I think if nothing else, it, it shows you that, what maybe you’re seeing or experiencing is normal per se, because I think in society we’re not super trauma informed. I was very, not totally unaware I should say, until I became a foster parent. And even in that training I’m like, “No, these people are crazy,”

this doesn’t really happen. And then you kids come and you’re like, “Oh my gosh, they were not lying. This is actually true.” So I think if anything, it just helps you be like, “Okay, this is,what is involved here.” So I love that.

Lexi: it sets everyone up for success, which I think is great. It makes the service the most meaningful for the foster family, because you’re helping them in the ways that they need to be helped because you understand the context. It helps you be better prepared to support the kiddos, and it just helps you as a volunteer know, not only know what you’re getting into, but [00:08:00] again, feeling equipped in that you have the tools to continue serving and volunteering

Amy: Yeah. And I think as a foster parent too, just having people that are your corner and understand, if this kid has a total meltdown or does this or that, I’m not gonna be judged by these people. Because I think as a foster parent, that can be really overwhelming sometimes. “Oh, great, they’re gonna think this or that,” and that is stressful and this is supposed to be something that lightens the load, not adds another layer that a foster parent has to be concerned about. Jenny or Tami what experiences have you guys had giving these trainings and, what good have you seen from these trainings?

Tami: I would love for Jenny to answer that, and I was just pulled out my calculator and was doing– adding up some numbers and looking at between the pilot and now one year into the program post-pilot, about 450 adults in the state of Utah have received this trauma-informed training, which has benefits beyond the foster family that they’re serving because [00:09:00] now they’re going out as a coach for their kid’s team or whatever their occupation is, or the kids they come in contact with in their faith community, and they’re having a better understanding that behavior is often a result of something challenging that’s happened to a child and not something wrong with the child.

So I love that one of the outcomes of this program is filling the state with trauma-informed adults, and we are so grateful for all those who have stepped forward to do this. But Jenny, tell us what your experiences doing the training have been like.

Jenny: I love going around to these trainings and seeing people’s eyes of understanding just open to themselves and their own personal experiences perhaps with children who they maybe not, didn’t realize at the time were maybe dealing with trauma, and re- recognizing different ways that they can then step towards these children to surround them with supports rather than what a lot of us want to do, back away and be like, “Oh, that’s [00:10:00] scary.

That’s a little bit overwhelming. That’s not something I wanna handle.” And so filling the state with, like Tammy said, individuals who are willing to see these behaviors in not just children who are in foster care, but all children, to step towards them and to give them those supports that they need in order to make, help so the s- what’s called social thinning doesn’t occur for them, or occurs less, so that they have more adults in their lives that can give them, safe, connected, relationships, which is where the healing, comes from is in the relationships that we build with these children.

Amy: Yeah. I hadn’t– it hadn’t really dawned on me until you guys both just said that, but it does, not only does this support a foster family, but you’re right, the coaches, the, the teachers, the church communities. A lot of kids have trauma. A lot of adults have trauma. It’s not just kids in foster care that have experienced trauma.

It is unfortunately many children, and learning how to appropriately deal [00:11:00] or accept or tolerate or be patient with these emotions and behaviors is not just helping foster families, but it’s helping the entire community, and that’s really cool. I hadn’t thought about that So Lexi, tell us a little bit about what you guys have actually been able to do for your foster family that you’re assigned to

Lexi: Yeah. It’s great. So the structure of a care team, there’s two care team leaders, and then there’s care team members. And, the reason there’s the care team leaders is to, minimize as many, like, communications struggles as possible, keeping things consistent while also, like, not overwhelming the family, right?

’cause if you could imagine 10 people all reaching out to you without any sort of organization or structure, it could be really stressful. and so my partner and the care team leader, he and I switch off,we’ll each take a week coordinating the care. that’s just how we decided works best for us.

and then we’ll text, the foster mom, and she said that it will work best for them. She’s like, “You can include my husband, but realistically, send it to [00:12:00] me. I do the scheduling.” and she’s home with the kiddos. we’ll send her a message at the start of the week just being like, “Hey, how’s it going?

what, what support would be most helpful for you this week, and what days and times work best?” that kind of just helps us get a, cursory view of the week of, hey, these days and times, let’s send some people over to help with specific things that she already knows and anticipates.

so examples, rides to visits. the kids in care, they have visits with their biological mom once a week. and it’s about 30 minutes from the foster mom’s house. And the visits are long, and so she’ll usually drop them off in the morning. It’s four hours, and then sometimes she’s “Hey, is anyone available just to pick them up from the visit and bring them back?”

so we do that. I think rides is huge. Something people in the community maybe don’t realize is how many extra appointments, visits, court dates, like so much driving, so many extra things. So giving rides has been really big. and [00:13:00] really just going over and hanging out with the kids, is probably the biggest way that we go over and help is just, Hanging out with the kids, and I think one of the most wonderful things about that, the kids, love us so much.

we come over and I feel like a rock star every time we come over to the house ’cause the kids come running up and they’re like,Lexi,” “Do this.” And then they just wanna show me all their things, and it’s like that for all, every care team m- member that comes over. And again, the value of doing a longer-term service project like this, is that you build those relationships and you’re giving the kids in care, those quality with safe and caring adults.

and so yeah, hanging out with the kids. several of us will sometimes either come over and make dinner or bring, drop dinner off. that can always help. The mom we’re, the foster family we’re helping out, the mom, she just sprained her ankle, which is so hard on top of having all of the kids.

So we just are going over just to alleviate as [00:14:00] much of the day-to-day pressure as we can. Sometimes we’ll help clean up or organize things, as projects come up. They’ll be moving soon,we’re planning to help a lot with the packing. But really just the day-to-day life things that everyone could use some help with from

Amy: I know, I’m like, “Can I get a care

team?”

Lexi: it just would be so great

Amy: No, it is so great, and I just think back to my foster parenting days, and it is so taxing. that’s why I’m not one anymore, It’s ’cause it is so much to carry. You’re taking care of your own household plus any number of extra kids. You don’t know when they’re coming, you don’t know when they’re leaving.

It’s a lot. I don’t think, unless you’ve done foster care, I really don’t know… I don’t think you can know how taxing it mentally is for foster parents, and the s- and the permanent kids that live there, of how taxing it is to have kids coming in and out of your home. It’s a lot, it really is. So I think this just lightens a physical load, but also the mental load to [00:15:00] some degree too, to just have those extra hands that you can call and that you know will show up.

That’s pretty incredible.

Lexi: A- and to that point too, I s- something I left off that I think is really important in this conversation too is not only, the physical load and the mental load with the planning, but the emotional load. I think that’s one of the biggest ways that, I’ve seen, I don’t know, value come out of this, the mom is just we go over, and because care team members sign that confidentiality, those confidentiality waivers, the foster parents are able to talk to us about what’s going on in their case, which of most people they can’t, right?

they can’t share the details. And even when it’s still limited and it’s just general things, it’ll be like, “Man, we had court today, and it was just really hard. I feel really confused about, where we stand or where this case is headed. I thought we knew, and I thought we were going to get resolution with this case, but now I feel like we have [00:16:00] another five months of uncertainty, and that’s just really stressing me out.”

And, she’s talked to me about, um, struggles with it, but then also her husband too will be like, “Yeah, like I always tell her, like, ‘It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s good. It’s gonna workout. It’s good.'” And then one of the most recent court appointments, he’s like, “Wait, but what?” and he had that reaction, and the mom, she was like, was really grateful to hear him share that, now he’s struggling with it.

Not that I want him to struggle with it, but that this is what I feel every single appointment. And so really the, the care team members can be a huge emotional support for the foster parents because Amy, just like what you were saying, until you’ve lived it or experienced it closely, you just have no idea everything that entails.

So just having someone that can listen and be there, just to be there, to be in it with you, I think is so meaningful.

Tami: Yeah, I love that. One of the things we talked about when we created this pilot was this is really [00:17:00] coming alongside someone and doing life with them. It isn’t fixing a problem for them. We’re not coming in as care teams and telling foster parents how to parent. We don’t need to be the experts. We just need to come alongside them, build a relationship of trust so that they can be vulnerable and feel safe with us

Amy: Yes, I think if you haven’t been a foster parent, I think it’s really hard to know how valuable you guys actually are. Like, I hope, Lexi, that you and your team know how valuable it is what you’re doing. and I’m sure you do feel rewarded to some degree, but, I think, think it would be really hard to actually know the true gift that you guys are to a foster family, truly. Tami I don’t know if you have these numbers, ’cause I just thought of this, but do you know how many foster families we have versus how many– you probably do know how many care teams you have, but I would just be curious to know, like, where are we at in the state? Like, how many foster families actually have a care team right now, [00:18:00] whereas, how many more care teams really could we be using?

Tami: Absolutely. So we currently have 15 active care teams, and it’s interesting to measure that number because a care team lasts six months to a year. So in the last 12 months, that number has been as high as 25, but right now we’re at 16. And if you think about the fact that there are over 700 foster families spread out around the state, now not all 700 plus have a placement all at the same time, but a good percentage of those do.

So the goal is any foster family who wants to have a care team can ask for one, or their caseworker can ask for one, or our staff can “We feel like this is a family who needs a care team.” So when we think about growing this program, the goal is now that we have staff in place around the state that are Care Community staff doing this work, that we would get to a point where we have 100 a year, [00:19:00] right?

That we have that many operating and going. And so we’re close right now to 20 because we have several being trained. So if we think about we need five times as many as we have, right? Wow. If we look at numbers. And knowing that each of those teams is filled with eight to 10 volunteers. Some care teams serve longer than a year.

I have one care team that’s been going over two years, and they are not done, and they do not want to be done, and they are serving the same family who adopted a child and now have another placement. But some care teams really are six months. We can take that care team, that same group of people who are now trained, and move them to another family.

So we would count that as a new care team even though it’s the same people volunteering. People really can commit to this for as little as six months or as long as they want to.

Amy: How does it work if a foster family or a caseworker reaches out and says, “Hey, I need a care team,” but there’s not people ready to give them? Is that happening?

Tami: Sure. It absolutely [00:20:00] happens. Jenny, what are your thoughts on that? ‘Cause I know in your region you’ve had some requests from caseworkers

Jenny: Yeah, as I have requests from caseworkers come in, I begin to look in those areas, for individuals who have inquired, like we talked about in the beginning. They’ve inquired through the website, and I’m trying to put a team together. one of the obstacles to building teams is convincing foster families that, to have a team.

asking the helpers to have help can be a big piece of things, and so I love it when I get those referrals from the caseworkers because then I can intentionally super focus on pulling community members together in that area, to bring people together to help that family.

Amy: Yeah, I know. Foster families are stubborn.

They are ”

just like, I can do this. It will be fine.”

Tami: Yeah, they are. And we’ve seen, we’ve seen teams come from also faith communities. staff around the state like Jenny would s- look at a foster family and build a team around that family by talking to their own family members. We have a care team right now [00:21:00] who, it’s a young, single young adult who got licensed to be a foster parent, and her own mother built a care team, which is beautiful.

Amy: awesome.

Tami: with the permission of the foster family, we can approach their faith community and build a team that way. We have seen great success with that. Otherwise, like Jenny said, we’re looking a- at our map of who’s inquired and then building a team from there.

Amy: what does it look like statewide? I’ve seen your guys’ billboards. That’s exciting. I’ve seen some care community

billboards. But how do we inform people like that this is a need and an opportunity to give back and to serve their community?

Tami: what would you say to that?

Jenny: We reach out to businesses, to be able to do presentations if it aligns with kind of their company culture to, step into a space like this. I’ve had a couple of different, businesses just pull people together from their company and then we’ve filled in the team with other community members, as well.

presentations are a great way to be able to help, communities know and then of course, talking [00:22:00] with the foster parents that we know need that as- assistance and saying, “Do you have family members that want to join a team?” like Tammy was saying. And then just, yeah, just working through, faith groups.

We’ve done a lot of, building through, different faith, groups ’cause they are naturally,groups that know each other and people that know each other, and they can

bring people together

quickly. Yeah

Amy: And something I would add onto that, if I can just jump in really quick, something that I saw in my experience, I just love Utah Foster Care. I love my job. really people– I’ve had so many people be like, “Oh, you, really love your… you really love your job.” I’m like, “I do,” because I talk about it all the time.

Lexi: which I think just speaks to the organization and the work we do. I really do love it. but something that I found is just by talking about it, right? Like by being– sharing about my work and what I do or the program, or as people talk, just talking in natural ways, I found the conversation would come up and I’d just be like, “Oh yeah, we have this program called Care Communities.”

And I can think of, almost, 10 [00:23:00] people that I’ve just been like, “Oh, hey, here’s the link to the form, to the website where you can find out more.” I even just my, my best friend last night, we were on a call and she was like, “Oh, hey, I was at a game group, with some of my friends, and they were just talking…

somehow we got started talking about foster care,” and she was like, “Oh,” and they wanna be involved, but they’re not in a place to be foster parents. They’re like, “How do you– We just don’t even know what to do.” And she was like, “Oh, hey, I know someone who works at Utah Foster Care, and she’s on the care team, and this is, the perfect way to match how you wanna serve.”

And I think those who are connected with foster care or even just learning about it, inviting conversations, I’ve loved seeing how many people are already willing and eager and ready to say yes to the opportunity. They just need the opportunity to be presented to them.

Amy: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, when Jenny was saying, presentations to, to, church groups or to companies, it made me think, hey, anybody could set [00:24:00] up that presentation. Doesn’t mean they have to be the care team leader. They just have to say, “Hey, someone might be interested in this. it seems like a really great cause.

I don’t really wanna even do it, but I’ll set up the, consult or the presentation or whatever.” But I think that can even be a good way of just just put feelers out there. Let people know. Learn. Just go learn about it, let people know, and then everybody gets to make their own decision if they wanna participate or not.

But,

Tami: I love that. And we have…

Amy: the information out there

Tami: I would agree, and we have community ralliers. We have people that are good cheerleaders and ralliers. We will come do a presentation in your home. We’ll do it at your church. We’ll do it at your business. We’ll do it at a school. We’ll do it anywhere that you would like us to be.

And I agree, you don’t need to be committing to even be on a care team to give us the opportunity to come present. I was just meeting with someone to talk through what they’re curious about and what they might wanna do, and she had an amazing suggestion that we’re gonna start implementing, which is people a text that they can send their friends that [00:25:00] has a link to the website that just says, “Hey, I know about this great program, and I thought of you and thought you might be interested.”

So really, that grassroots spreading of information is important and essential to the program, as well as people who are engaged in their community and deeply embedded in bringing opportunities to community, just letting us get in the door and come do a presentation. And again, we have staff around the state now who can come and do that

Amy: Yeah, it’s like I think most people know what foster care is, right? But they don’t know what a care community is, and we need to make sure the community does know that, yes, there’s foster parenting, but there’s this added layer that might be a better fit for a lot of people

Tami: Absolutely. And it, hearing Lexi speak about her experiences is beautiful, and it’s absolutely very tender to hear her speak about that family and those children that she loves. And I know Jenny has a lot of stories from her care teams that she is currently mentoring. [00:26:00] That’s the thing is we stay involved in this process.

We don’t just hand this off to a care team and they do the work. We continue to do the work with them and show up and give training and support to the leaders of that team. But I think it’s important for people to know if you’re on a care team, you can serve at the capacity and availability that you have with the strengths and talents that you have.

We need people who can mow the lawn. We need people who can drive kiddos. We need babysitters. We need meal makers. We need DoorDash friends. And it can be an hour or two a month, or it can be an hour a week. It really is about your availability and adaptability in the situation

Amy: That’s something that I love too, because foster parenting, 24/7. Care community, what fits into your schedule. Still both very needed things, and just different ways to serve the community. I think people always ask me, “Why did you start foster parenting?” I’m like, “Because that’s a way to serve my community.”

I didn’t wanna accrue more kids, even though I did. I [00:27:00] didn’t, I’m not even like a huge kid lover. Everyone’s like, “Oh, you must be so good with kids.” I’m like, “No,I’m just a normal human,” but I wanted to give back in my community, and it was a tangible way that I could give back and improve the society that I live in, the neighborhoods, the communities, the schools.

I think it is unbelievable the things that are going on around us. What– As soon as I became a foster parent and was getting the calls, hearing the stories, knowing the locations, I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is my community. This is where I live, where my kids go to school. These are real things that are happening around us.”

And participating as a foster parent, or even better, as a care community member, is making an actual difference in the lives of your community

Tami: It absolutely is. And everywhere around the state, there are foster families and children in care who could use you, those of you listening, to step forward and be a part of this program, making a difference right where you are[00:28:00]

Amy: Yeah. maybe just to wrap up, we’ll have each one of you just share either a favorite moment about being part of the Care Community organization or just something that you would love to share with the community to encourage them to invite a presentation to their friends and families or to join a Care Community team, whatever that is.

Maybe just like a little final memo that you guys can each share. let’s start with you Tami

and we’ll Jenny and Lexi

Tami: Thank you. I love the opportunity to share about this program and what people can do, knowing that there is a place for everyone in this work, no matter the stage of life that you’re in. We need people who are single. We need people who ha- can drag their spouse along with them. We need people who are parents of young children, people who are parents of teenagers, and we need empty nesters.

We had an entire team once that was completely filled with empty nesters, and it was beautiful. You are needed for exactly who you are and the strengths and talents that you bring to this. You’re needed right where [00:29:00] you are in your community, and the way that you can show up is exactly what is needed

Amy: Thank you

Jenny: One of my favorite things, to experience, when I’m training these teams is seeing the burden lifted from these foster parents, seeing and hearing their relief knowing that they have team members that they can rely on. Hearing a single foster mom who takes in medically fragile children know and state that, “I know that I’m gonna reach my max at some point, but knowing that I have somebody that I can call on in the middle of the night that’s gonna be- want to be there and want to show up, makes me be able to continue to do this work.”

Amy: Yeah, it’s awesome

Lexi: Absolutely. And just to add to both Tammy and Jenny that, I think for me, those, those really special moments are when, the foster family reaches out to us in a moment of, I broke my ankle. Is someone able to come over and just help,” right? Not out of a sense of, oh, [00:30:00] emergency, we need something right now, but just that there’s that trust there, right?

That w- when the hard things really do come up, that there’s no hesitation to reach out. It’s just right there. Having that trust, like it really is an honor because again, we recognize the work that these foster families are doing and everyone involved. It’s a hard work that they do. and re-emphasizing Tammy’s point that everyone’s involved.

That’s the beauty of having a team of 10 people. You know, not everyone’s gonna be able to help the same amount, and even at the same time. Somebody on our team, we have a teacher, a couple teachers actually, who over the summer they were able to help, a lot. Every week they were over helping out, and then when school started they’re like, “Hey, I have to step back a little bit.”

And it was like, oh, that’s okay because now we have a couple who is empty nesters and they’re like, “Hey, we’re free and available during the day. Can we come over?” There really is just like such, momentum behind the work that we’re doing, and the positive impact that it has the potential to give for everyone.[00:31:00]

Amy: Yeah, I love that. And I love, in these moments, these foster families have a list of people they can call. ‘Cause I think me personally, I’m like, “Oh, I don’t wanna burden this person. and you’re just always, justifying not asking for help when you need help.

But they have a literal list that they can text or call or whatever, and that’s incredible, right? Thank you, guys. We will wrap up, but thank you so much, Tami for creating program, Jennie for coordinating all these people, and Lexi for contributing specifically to this foster family that you are mentoring and lifting up right now.

It is a beautiful work, and it’s something that we do need more of. So if you’re interested,

head over to www.utahcarecommunities.org to learn more. Thanks for joining us.

[00:32:00]