SUITCASE PROJECT AIMS TO HELP CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE

  BOSTON, MA - 10/13/2016 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

Every day, across the country, girls and boys living in foster care wait to find out where they’ll go next. Their belongings sit next to them on the floor … in trash bags.

In response to this heartbreaking reality, members of our community have begun an ambitious initiative this month called the Suitcase Project Challenge. This initial effort – which will grow in the future – is designed to concretely help young people in care by providing them with suitcases and duffle bags, while also sending them an important message:

·         You deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

·         You are a valued member of our community and of society.

·         Even if we cannot be foster or adoptive parents, we want to help.

Donors can drop off new duffle bags (preferred) or suitcases at The Suitcase Project, 80 Pennock Rd. Ashland, MA 01721 or Treehouse Foundation, 1 Treehouse Cir. Easthampton, MA 01027.   We will be adding more sites nationwide in the near future; supporters who don’t have a site nearby – or who prefer to help financially instead – can learn more and make a contribution.

Donate here:  http://refca.net/movement/suitcase-project-challenge

The Suitcase Project Challenge is an initiative of Treehouse Foundation’s Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA), which was created to give people of all ages and backgrounds a way to help children and youth in their community – from infants to teens and young adults – who, through no fault of their own, are living in foster care.

Journalists, bloggers and other members of the media who want to learn more about the Suitcase Project, about REFCA or about the realities of foster care in America can contact Adam Pertman, President of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, which is working with the Treehouse Foundation on this important effort. Pertman can be reached at suitcaseproject@refca.net, apertman@ncap-us.org.