Oct20
First Questions night
6:30 PM · Fellowship room, 1418 Lake Dr SE
Ninety minutes, two foster parents, one caseworker and every question you've been too polite to ask. Childcare provided.
An adoptive dad and his daughter in Riverside Park, photographed with permission
Hearth Families · Kent & Ottawa counties
86
foster families with a care team around them tonight
Each family has five or six neighbors from a West Michigan church who bring supper on placement nights, babysit on Thursdays and sit in the back row at court. Nobody fosters alone here.
- meals carried to doorsteps this year
- 2,086
- hours of respite babysitting
- 690
- churches with at least one team
- 38
Counted through 30 September 2026
How a care team works
Six neighbors, one family, a year at a time
A care team is the smallest useful thing a church can do for foster care. Most members give about two hours a month, and every team keeps the same five promises.
The parents lead
The family tells the team what would actually help. Usually that is meals, a babysitter and someone to text at 11 PM. We never arrive with a plan of our own.
Agreed at the first team supper
We show up
Supper on Tuesdays, respite once a month, a ride to a visit. If you said you'd come, you come.
About 2 hours a month
We keep it quiet
A child's story belongs to the child. No case details shared, and no photos of kids in care posted anywhere, ever.
Michigan confidentiality rules
We get trained
One Saturday morning: trauma basics, confidentiality and the state rules for babysitting a child in care.
Next session: 24 October
We stay a year
Then the team and the family decide together whether to keep going. About two thirds do.
Renée checks in quarterly
Thursday, 4:10 PM
Gloria sorts the size 6 shelf first. It empties fastest, every single week.
The Closet
No child moves house with a trash bag
Kids often arrive at a new home at eleven at night with whatever fit in a garbage bag. Within a day, the Closet on Lake Drive sends a new duffel with pajamas, a toothbrush, a nightlight and clothes in the right size.
Foster parents shop the shelves free, any time we are open. Last year 404 children went home from the Closet with a bag that was theirs to keep.
- Car seats, cribs and pack-and-plays on loan
- New underwear, socks and pajamas in every size
- School backpacks filled in August
- A placement-night bag delivered within 24 hours
From a foster mom
The first night we had a placement, the doorbell rang at seven with lasagna and a bag of size 3T clothes. I didn't have to explain anything. I just had to open the door.
Closet wish list
What the Closet is short of this week
Counts update on Monday afternoons after Gloria's inventory. New items only, please, apart from car seats on loan.
Updated Monday, Oct 5
- Urgent
Duffel bags, medium or large
Plain colors. Older kids want something that looks like a gym bag.
57 bags still needed
23 of 80
- Urgent
Pajamas, sizes 4T to 8
Warm ones. Michigan winter starts early.
79 sets still needed
41 of 120
- This month
Size 5 and 6 diapers
Any brand, unopened.
62 packs still needed
88 of 150
- This month
Convertible car seats
Under six years old and never in a crash.
8 seats still needed
12 of 20
- Always welcome
Teen toiletry kits
Deodorant, face wash, a good shampoo.
13 kits still needed
47 of 60
- Always welcome
Nightlights
Plug-in, warm color. A small thing that matters on night one.
28 lights still needed
72 of 100
Not on the list right now, but call the Closet. We may still need it.
Coming up
Evenings to come to
Add to calendar
Oct23
Parents' Night Out
5:30 – 9:30 PM · Plaster Creek Church
Free respite for licensed families. Drop the kids with trained sitters and go have dinner.
Oct24
Care team training
9:00 AM – 12:30 PM · Fellowship room
The one Saturday morning every new team member needs. Coffee and Dutch letters provided.
Nov20
Adoption Day at the courthouse
10:00 AM · Kent County courthouse
Eleven Hearth families finalize on National Adoption Day. Come and clap in the hallway.
Dec5
Christmas Closet
9:00 AM – 1:00 PM · The Closet
Foster parents shop free for every child in the home, wrapping paper included.
Nothing in that category this month.
Why we do this
God setteth the solitary in families.
Two hours a month is a real help
Most of our care team members have never fostered and never will. They bring supper, they babysit, they remember birthdays. Training is one Saturday morning.