💙 Foster, adoptive and kinship families join us for a great night of food, fun and fellowship before we head back to school.
🎒 We will be passing out school supplies graciously collected and donated by Smith County Child Welfare Board.
✏️ Come get all the supplies you need as you prepare for the upcoming school year. Please register to attend.
✅ Register Here
Our adult session this month is going to be led by Neisha LeStage. Neisha LeStage MS, CRC, LPC-S, AADC is the Division Director of Mental Wellness and Community Education Therapist and Trauma Team Lead at the Andrews Center.
We are going to spend some time in each session focusing on how to advocate, whether for our children in crisis or for ourselves. Our Family Collective is our monthly support group for foster, adoptive and kinship families. Each month, we gather together for dinner and then break off into sessions pending age/grade. Each session is led by local therapists who are trauma informed and want to support our families.
📍 Location- South Spring Baptist Church 17002 Hwy 69 in Tyler.
🍽️ Dinner will be served from 5:30-6:00pm. Sessions will run from 6:00 - 7pm.
☎️ Contact Christi Sowell at christi@thefosteringcollective.org or 903-253-9144 Ext.101 for more information.
🗓️ Register to attend
Got big behaviors? Do you want to break down walls and work towards building connection and healing our families together? Playfulness disarms the fear response in children. It helps build connection, teaches social skills, problem solving, communication and life skills. Laughing swaps the cortisol in our bloodstream with highly sought after chemicals in the brain: dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins. Dopamine can enhance learning, motivation, and attention.
Join us this summer for our “Play It Out” sessions. Each session has been designed to address issues our families face in the trenches of dealing with big behaviors. Self regulation, interception, felt safety and sensory issues are just a few topics we will tackle together. We have 10 total sessions with 5 different topics each week. Each session is limited to 20 people so RSVP ASAP. It’s going to be a great summer filled with lots of fun and making great memories.
✅ Register Here!
Join other foster, adoptive and kinship moms as we fellowship together.
Please Contact Jen Toss at 903-285-1584 with any questions and to get plugged in.
Got big behaviors? Do you want to break down walls and work towards building connection and healing our families together? Playfulness disarms the fear response in children. It helps build connection, teaches social skills, problem solving, communication and life skills. Laughing swaps the cortisol in our bloodstream with highly sought after chemicals in the brain: dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins. Dopamine can enhance learning, motivation, and attention.
Join us this summer for our “Play It Out” sessions. Each session has been designed to address issues our families face in the trenches of dealing with big behaviors. Self regulation, interception, felt safety and sensory issues are just a few topics we will tackle together. We have 10 total sessions with 5 different topics each week. Each session is limited to 20 people so RSVP ASAP. It’s going to be a great summer filled with lots of fun and making great memories.
✅ Register Here!
Join us for Church Collective on August 8th!
Being part of our Church Collective is the best way we can make an eternal impact on our community. The Church Collective is a partnership among local congregations to recruit and shepherd Christ-centered families in East Texas to help children in foster care.
So who is invited? Any leader within your church or layperson willing to commit to help in this area!
At this meeting we will be sharing more about the Heart Gallery and how we have the opportunity to combine our efforts to raise awareness for children who are currently available for adoption and needing a forever family in East Texas.
Join other foster, adoptive and kinship moms as we fellowship together.
Let's go watch some baseball! We are going to watch the Rangers beat the Brewers at the 7:05 game on August 16th. Tickets are only $35 for the game and all you can eat concessions (Grilled chicken sandwiches, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Nachos, Peanuts, Popcorn, and Soft drinks), AND a tour led by Alan Pigg. This deal is too big to pass up! Plus, you will get to hang out with some amazing dads. This is a dads only event.
Meet at South Spring Baptist Church at 3pm to leave Tyler. Please register and make plans to join us for this fun outing. Tickets will go fast.
✅ Register Here!
We made it!!!! We made it through the summer... kids are back in school and we deserve some MUCH NEEDED girl time and yummy brunch. Our guest speaker is Jen Tosh, parent coach and leader of our Mom Collective in Mt. Pleasant. She's such a joy and inspiration.
Join us Saturday August 19th at 10am at KVNE. Invite your fellow foster, adoptive and kinship moms to join us. This is always such a sweet time when all of our support groups come together to connect.
✅ Register Here
Advocacy – Self-Advocacy – These are important concepts for our kiddos to understand. Advocacy is promoting and defending another person’s rights, needs and interests. An advocate is someone who speaks up for others. Our kiddos will need others to advocate for them as they learn how to speak up for themselves.
What a gift our children will have when they know they are worth advocating for and have the tools to speak up for themselves. Come and let's share ideas about how we can help our kids learn this important skill. Bonus: we get to spend time with each other!!
Let's Connect is our monthly lunch and learn support group specifically for kinship families. Kinship Care is when a relative or family friend is a caregiver to a child. We will meet from 12-1 at The Fostering Collective office, 201 Winchester Dr. in Tyler. Invite a friend and join us. Lunch will be provided so please register.
✅ Register Here
Attend one training to be certified with multiple agencies to babysit for foster families. Participating agencies include 4Kids4Families, Arrow, Methodist Children's Home, Grace Manor, Christian Homes, Azleway, UpBring, Hope Haven, Buckner, Compass Connection and Noble.
✅ The class is $10 to attend.
😊 Dinner is Provided.
⏰ Class is from 9am - 11am.
👋 CPR Hands on portion is from 11am-12pm.
📝 If you need CPR/First Aid, you will need to pay an additional $50 to E&E Heartsavers. Their Venmo is Nancy-Elliott-CPR. ☎️ Then text Nancy at 903-714-5101 your name and email address to get started on the online portion of the course.
🗓️ Register to attend
Protecting our children from addictions, sexualized behaviors and internet safety can be exhausting and scary. The am session of this training is from 9-12 and will focus on the challenges our kids face AND the healing that can take place when we walk with them towards finding self-worth and value. The pm session will focus on cell phone and internet safety with Tim McDonald. We will offer lunch in between.
The Fostering Collective, Restore Family Counseling and Tim McDonald are partnering together to provide this training for families, case workers, counselors, therapists, teachers, and others who work with youth. LPC, LMFT and LCSW approved CEUs are available for an additional $20. In order to receive the CEUs you must stay the entire day. Registration will open at 8:30am.
✅ Register Here!
