Two children (Boy age 9 and Girl age 8) are living with their biological grandparents after their previous adoptive home fell through. The grandparents are doing a wonderful job of taking care of the kids and getting them the supports and services they need. The children's school is offering a holiday day camp while school is out of session for the Christmas holiday. The family would like financial assistance getting them enrolled so that the elderly grandparents can keep the children in their routine as much as possible for the children's mental health. The program has a $75 enrollment fee per child, and a cost of $30/day/child. This would total to $450 for the two children for the 5 day program.

I work with a family at our school who is a single parent and is employeed and just barely making ends meet. Their bank account information was stollen last week and she is in crisis trying to pay her bills. Her car tag fee is one bill she cannot pay and they are expired by a few weeks and she is worried she will get in trouble. She relies on her vehicle to get her children to school and to drive to her job. The amount of the tags is $245. If anyone is able to help this family, they have a lot on their plate and this would enable the mom to prioritize other bills and expenses this holiday. Thank you for considering!

An 11 year old girl with extensive trauma history needs a new twin bed and dresser. She currently does not have any dresser at all due to her breaking it. Her current bed is a metal bunk bed which she is scared to sleep in as it only has a top bunk, so is sleeping on the floor. Her current bed is also very wobbly and bent due to the child damaging it during outbursts or fits. Placement is requesting a captains twin bed which has drawers underneath the bed. This is so the child feels safe and knows no one can be under the bed, and so she doesn't hoard food under the bed. Placement requests that both the bed and dresser are wooden and sturdy.

This request is being made for strong, loving, single parent who is unfortunately, stuck in the reoccurring cycle that many people are facing with homelessness. However, the obstacle that this mother is facing are some that she cannot control. This mother was diagnosed with a debilitating disease called Scleroderma at the age of 14. Scleroderma involves the hardening and tightening of the skin which causes severe pain. The doctors gave her two years to live, but here she is 20+ years later, killing it. When this mother was at the hospital at the age of 14 finding out that she had this disease, her own mother abandoned here, leaving her at the hospital, and this mother was placed in the custody of the state. She eventually aged out of the system but this disease has left her disabled and has never been able to work. She receives about $700 from SSI and that was all she received to take care of herself and her two sons. She was able to rent a home, but due to her illness, she was admitted into the hospital and was there for months. During that time, she lost the home because she could not pay rent and the landlord took her to court and she was ordered to pay the landlord over $3000 in restitution. When making very limited income and taking care of herself and her two sons, it is nearly impossible for her to save any money. The only reason preventing her 11 year old son from reintegrating home with her is because she doesn't have stable housing.

I work with a family who has been struggling to make ends meet this year. She is a single mother who works in education and is struggling with her car payment and is in danger of losing the car. She owes $630.00 at this time but any portion of that amount would help. Without the car her children could lose access to attending school due to bus issues in our area and driving them is the only option at this time. Any help would help her get closer to getting caught up on this bill.

On the children's day of referral into foster care, our kinship department worked tirelessly to find relative connections for these four children to help ensure that they would be able to stay together with their siblings. We were able to find an uncle of the children and his significant other that were enthused to take in the children to ensure that the children were able to go to a home that they were familiar with and people that they had connections to. They were able to be approved as the placement for the children and the children have been safe and stable in their uncle's home since coming into care. However, the family has had a difficult time being able to get beds and mattresses for the children to be able to continue to remain in the home and they are in need of two twin sized bed frames and mattresses and a twin sized bunk bed with mattresses as soon as possible to be able to continue to maintain the children in the home. The family would greatly appreciate any assistance in getting these items to be able to continue to remain placement for their nieces and nephew. Thank you for your consideration and for any help that you may be able to provide.

This bill was the cost for this youth to ship Christmas gifts to their siblings out of the country. This would allow their siblings to also receive Christmas gifts.

Struggling family has unexpected bills and has fallen behind on their storage bill. As of Nov 27, 2023 All their belongings will be put up for auction. Family got behind when living situations changed and family had to start paying all of the rent instead of just 600.00$ Family is now needing to move and pay first and last month rent for a bigger place so their family can be re unified. Already struggling they now have to pay a 1200$ deposit / $250 per fee and first month's rent which is $1225. Not to mention they lost their food stamps and any extra money goes to feeding the kids. Unfortunately, if their unit is lost at auction this will put reintegration even further behind due to having to replace all their belonging. Would you please consider pitching in. We are so grateful Jennifer

I have a pregnant, 14-year-old female who is expecting her Baby Girl come December 6th! She has been receiving one on one education regarding her pregnancy journey and is inevitably nervous, but very eager to welcome her baby into our world. She's received many generous donations from our community regarding baby items. An essential piece of furniture is still needed for my youth- a dresser to hold her girl's clothes. Currently, this youth has all of her baby's clothes laid out and organized according to size and needs proper storage to complete her baby's room.

There is a need for a mother who is raising her 12 year old son who has a serious heart condition. This mother just moved into a separate house from the patient's father and is renting for the first time. About three months ago Mom decided that the environment her and her son were living in was not conducive to a healthy lifestyle so she found a rental property and is working hard as a housekeeper in order to pay the rent. Mom is needing assistance with a washing machine. She reports that she has a functional dryer but the washing machine is broken and she thinks she needs a new one completely! If a church is willing to support this Mom and her son it would be greatly appreciated! Additionally, the hospital social worker sent Mom a link for her to apply for food stamps but as of now, she has been paying for rent and utilities and food out of pocket and could really use support during this gap of time when the food stamps are not active yet. This Mother is Spanish-speaking only!

Hello! 18 year old, female, is working on aging out of care. She is in desperate need of a car in order to be able to continue working towards her goal of aging out successfully. This has been her biggest barrier. She is a hard worker and very smart and resourceful. She is working and recently graduated high school. She has identified housing for herself but will not be able to maintain her job without transportation. We have found a car for sale for 1500 that she is very interested in. We would appreciate any amount of help to pay for the car. She is working on saving up for her part of the payment and is very determined. If you can help, please let me know. Thank you!

Youth was able to purchase his first vehicle for $5000, but now is needing assistance with help purchasing his car tags.

This family is working reintegration and living in Missouri. However, until the interstate approval goes through (ICPC), they cannot have overnight visits at the home, This would allow for the children to spend the night together as a family in Kansas. These parents have been working hard to get everything ready for their children to come home. We are so close, but cannot do overnights due to the location currently.

The children have been in care and the parents have been working hard at completing the tasks needed to bring the children home. KVC is working under the regulations of the ICPC and are not able to have the children stay in Missouri until it is approved. This family would love to spend the holiday together and could do that if they stay in a hotel in Kansas. We would love to put them in a hotel with an indoor pool for some family memories as well. Thank you!