“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” – James 1:27
What We Do
Fostering The Family
Building a Support Network for Every County
Our resource networks are designed to create lasting stability. By providing consistent support to local foster families, we help them foster longer and close the critical gap in available homes. This same support for DSS helps reduce the number of children entering care and shortens their time in the system, ultimately creating a more stable foster care system for everyone.
Mission
We ignite churches and communities to support foster, adoptive, and kinship families.
Vision
Making a lasting difference in vulnerable children’s lives.
Fostering The Family
We are a dedicated of team of Christian believers passionate about addressing the crisis of orphaned children. We’ve embraced a sustainable approach to empower churches to fulfill their mission of caring for orphans and widows. God’s heart holds a special place for the vulnerable, and we believe ours should too. Through Care Communities, we offer meaningful support to foster, adoptive, and kinship families.
Mission
We ignite churches and communities to support foster, adoptive, and kinship families.
Vision
Making a lasting difference in vulnerable children’s lives.
Our purpose is to empower and engage churches to raise up and support foster, adoptive, and kinship parents who are committed to changing the lives of vulnerable children.
Our Strategy
We believe Churches working together is the answer!
Fostering the Family partners with Promise 686. Working together, our goal is to flood the foster care system with well trained, well supported foster families.
Fostering the Family doesn’t decide whether a child goes into the child welfare system…that’s up to the state. However, we know when the state does intervene, it’s time for The Church to intervene. Did you know there are approximately 3300 children in foster care and over 7000 churches in South Carolina? That means, if every church could raise up one foster family, we’d have enough homes for these vulnerable children.
But fostering is a tough job. Without support, it can feel nearly impossible to continue. In fact, the national average of families who continue fostering after their first year is about 50%, but when supported by a Fostering the Family FAM – Family Advocacy Ministry and its Care Communities, 90% continue fostering into a second year.
In addition, we endeavor to create an environment where children and families can thrive through legislation and policy changes within our state system.
Our Sustainable Plan
Awareness
Educate churches and communities on foster care needs and retention.
Support Services
We build resilient families through community and direct care.
Resource Network
We connect needs with solutions for lasting family stability.
How We Make a Difference - From Awareness to Stability
We’ve learned that a lack of support causes 50% of foster families to quit in their first year, feeling isolated and defeated. Our three core areas of focus are specifically designed to combat this by providing a reliable and consistent network of care that creates lasting stability.
Raise Awareness
We believe a well-informed community is an empowered community.
Our awareness and recruitment events serve as a critical first step to mobilize the public and address the foster care crisis. Through these events, we not only raise awareness but also build family support systems and recruit the vital volunteers—foster families and Guardian Ad Litem advocates—needed to serve our state.
Our goal is to ensure each child has a voice in court proceedings and can remain in a local, stable placement.
Since 2020, our annual events have resulted in a powerful network of 33 church ministry partners across 11 counties, directly leading to an increase in both Foster Families and Guardian Ad Litem volunteers.
Support Services
We know that foster families who feel isolated and overwhelmed often quit within the first year. To combat this, Fostering The Family builds resilient families through hands-on care and a strong sense of community. We provide the support that empowers families to continue their vital work through three essential services:
-Care Communities: Our Care Communities are a team of dedicated volunteers who wrap around a single family to meet their specific needs. From providing a weekly meal to offering trusted babysitting, these teams give parents the time and space to focus on their children and strengthen their own relationships. Annually, our Care Communities provide consistent, reliable support for 81 families across 11 counties.
Sign up for a Care Community Clinic.
-Quarterly Fellowship Dinners: We unite our community through quarterly Fellowship Dinners for foster and kinship families. These gatherings serve as a vital lifeline, connecting new families with experienced mentors and building a powerful sense of belonging.
-Events: We provide opportunities for connection and joy through a variety of ministry events. These events give families a chance for fellowship and fun activities, while also ensuring children in group homes can participate in extracurricular activities that expand their horizons and provide a sense of normalcy. Learn about hosting a support group or family connection event.
Resource Networks
A lack of basic resources can often be a barrier to family preservation. When DSS requires a safe living space for families, essential items like beds, cribs, car seats, and adequate food are critical. Children often enter foster care with only the items they can place in a garbage bag, highlighting the immense need for tangible support.
Fostering The Family mobilizes a network of existing church ministries—each with a different focus, such as a food pantry, clothing closet, or furniture ministry.
Instead of creating new programs, we serve as a bridge, connecting these ministries to work together and meet the specific needs of families in our community. This network is a vital tool that provides tangible aid for family preservation and reunification, and also assists foster families after a child’s placement.
Our network’s impact is growing rapidly. In 2024, our pilot Tangible Needs Network in Aiken and Edgefield Counties served 414 families with 1,228 needs met. In 2025 (YTD), that number has already surged to 433 families and 1,622 needs met. This tangible support is a prevention effort to help high-risk families before DSS intervention. In 2025 (YTD), the Network has directly provided 1,200 tangible needs to 113 DSS families in support of family preservation or reunification.
Our Tangible Needs Portal: A New Level of Efficiency
To make this process even more efficient, we have partnered with SC County DSS and the Guardian Ad Litem program to create a database-driven Tangible Needs Portal. This innovative system allows DSS case workers and Guardian Ad Litem volunteers to enter a family’s specific needs into a database, which immediately informs our support network and empowers our partners to fill that need in real time.
Have Questions? Let's Talk!
Conctact our Director of Outreach and Partnerships, Susie Boyle. Alternately, you can submit a message via our contact form below and someone will be in touch with you shortly!