Advocacy and Volunteerism

[zpsemommy]

I am a member of 2 groups, one a mom's group the other a volunteer organization, that donate time, money, and items to a local home for teens in the foster system who are raising babies and young children. I never knew until then that in the state of FL when a girl in the foster system gives birth the baby is almost automatically taken  away and the mother's right's are terminated within the year, even if she does not consent. I found that to be so very sad. It adds another child to the foster system, and many of the girls that are helped by this particular home were victims of statutory rape or outright rape, and several were victims of human trafficking and sexual slavery. Of the current 8 residents, only 1 was impregnated through "consensual" sex. The fathers of most of the babies and children range in age from the late 60's to mid 30's. Many of the girls themselves have parents who are dead, incarcerated, or are drug addicts.

The home was started by a woman who never had children and spent 7 years raising the money to build a home and get all the paperwork in order. It opened in May of 2000, and she died that October. What a wonderful legacy to leave! The goal is to ensure that the girls finish school, learn life skills, and learn parenting skills. The hope is that they will become productive members of society and not get stuck in the cycle of public assistance and hopelessness that they were in before. Now, they are looking forward to building a smaller home next door, on donated property, to house 3-4 girls who have aged-out of the system, but who are not quite ready to fully enter the world on their own. Sort of a half-way house, if you will. Priority would be given to girls who are in college or skilled training or who need help transitioning out of the home.

This home had no precedent. The concept is, in my opinion, phenomenal. I have no problem donating my time and skills to these girls. This is a group that truly needs as many advocates as they can get.

So, here is my question to all of you:

Do you feel strongly about something? Would you be willing to "put our money (or time and energy, o skills) where you mouth is? If you see a need, do you wonder how you can fill it?

If not, why not? Is it a matter of time, or do you feel overwhelmed, or even underwhelmed, by the choices? if you could help one single person today, how would you do it?

I'm not asking for the purpose of soliciting or making anyone feel guilty. I'm not bragging. I know that as a child I was helped in many ways by many people, and otherwise I would not have survived. I feel a huge responsibility to pay it forward. Sometimes it is in small ways, sometimes large. I just wonder how many of you feel the same.


If anyone would like to look at the home that I was talking about, here is the link:
http://www.ourmothershome.com/default.asp

Love, Lexa 

Check out my new group!

Moms Mentoring Younger Moms

http://www.cafemom.com/group/momsmentoringyoungmoms

[stefanierios]

I volunteered at the animal shelter for a little while, but I had to pay for a babysitter - hard to find - to volunteer.  I ended up adopting my kitty from there b/c I fell in love with her while volunteering there, but I had to stop b/c the money for babysitting and the hour round-trip commute was costing me too much.  I feel good about it even though I couldn't volunteer more.  I also donate money and supplies whenever I have the extra money.  When both kids are in school, I will volunteer a lot b/c I will actually have the time to volunteer.

I offered to help my son's soon-to-be pre-K teacher with anything that I could bring home and do b/c she doesn't have a teaching assistant and she has an 80 mile commute everyday after school b/c her son is in the hospital.  I stay at home all day, and since Marcos won't be here, I'll have more free time to help her out.  I also always donate as much food as I can to food drives.  When I was little, we depended heavily on food banks and soup kitchens, so I can empathize with those needing food donations.

Your program sounds awesome.  If there were something like that here in NC, I would try to help as much as I could.  There are so many good causes though, and not enough time or money.  I would like to help starving children in Africa, but don't really know how.