Bay Area organization expands foster family village
TAMPA, Fla. - Most people have heard the African proverb, it takes a village to raise a child and one Bay Area organization is taking that message to heart for foster families.
New Life Village is a one-of-a-kind safe haven to get children out of the foster care system.
"The best way to think about it is like an apartment complex with a mission. And everybody who lives at New Life Village is preventing children from being in foster care or they're helping remove them from foster care," stated Mariah Hayden, executive director of New Life Village.
New Life Village was founded by Sister Clarie 10 years ago. She wanted to create a place to offer support for families adopting children out of foster care.
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"We offer affordable housing to families that are getting children to permanency and out of foster care," Hayden explained. "We sit at the crossroads of a foster care crisis and an affordable housing crisis."
New Life Village was founded by Sister Clarie 10 years ago. She wanted to create a place to offer support for families adopting children out of foster care.
An intersection that provides a permanent and caring environment for families.
READ: Adopted foster children and their families find stable environment at village created by Tampa nun
"We have it a group e-mail like we need somebody to go grab your milk because you can't because babies homesick, somebody will go get it for you," said Julie Light, who is a foster parent.
Frarrol Thomas's family was the first to move into the complex 10 years ago.
Sixteen new townhomes are being built to add to the campus's existing 32 townhomes.
"I came out for a visit and I just thought it would be neat that we live in a community where our family was normalized. You know, children, whether they're in foster care or adopted like it's normal to not be with mom or dad," she said.
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Florida is third in the US with more than 22,000 children in foster care and Hillsborough County leads the state with more than 2,000 kids.
"We have more foster children in Hillsborough County than we have adoptive parents and foster parents. So we have a high need to get children adopted and get them out of foster care," Hayden said.
Once the expansion is done New life Village will have about 170 residents.
To help make that happen New Life Village is expanding. Sixteen new townhomes are being built to add to the campus's existing 32 townhomes.
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"These families all have to have at least three children. They're getting out of foster care. And so these are large units," Hayden added.
Florida is third in the US with more than 22,000 children in foster care and Hillsborough County leads the state with more than 2,000 kids.
It’s an intergenerational community working for foster children and their families to bring them opportunity, hope and security.
Once the expansion is done New life Village will have about 170 residents
LINK: Click here to learn more about New Life Village.