Our Village Closet Celebrates 1st Anniversary of the Resource Center Serving Youth Affected by Foster Care in Sonoma County, CA
Our Village Closet (OVC) is a dedicated team of advocates, committed to strengthening the foster community in Sonoma County by providing relevant supplies and support to youth (ages 0-25) and their caregivers impacted by the welfare system. By fostering connections to essential supplies, support, and resources, they hope to help create felt safety, nurturing relationships, and a sense of belonging. This June, they celebrate 1 year serving foster youth at their Resource Center.
Santa Rosa, CA, May 25, 2022 --(PR.com)-- Our Village Closet announces its first anniversary since opening their OVC Resource Center in central Santa Rosa in June of 2021. They will be celebrating by holding an Open House on Sunday, June 5, 2022.
Our Village Closet began as a dream of two foster mommas, Dominique Soileau and Amanda Kitchens. In December of 2018, they established OVC by collecting and distributing items to foster families around Sonoma County. The two moms did this, with 8 special needs kids between them, using donated warehouse space, storage units, their garages, their cars and a whole lot of heart. In June of 2021, their dreams became a reality when, with the guidance of Marin Foster Care Association and a space grant from St. Luke Lutheran Church, they opened a Resource Center on Mendocino Ave. in Santa Rosa, CA.
Since opening the Resource Center last June, Team OVC has served over 1700 youth affected by foster care, and their caregivers. Who are “youth affected by foster care?” Those eligible for free supplies and support at Our Village Closet are: current foster youth, former foster youth, youth adopted from foster care, youth being cared for by relatives/kinship caregivers, transitional age youth, children of former foster youth, and youth who have reunified with their biological parent(s).
“Each week, we see new faces of foster care coming into the Resource Center for much needed supplies. Each week, we make new connections, and it’s in those moments, where we offer support and belonging, that the village truly grows. Those connections are at the heart of why we started OVC," says Kitchens. “We look forward to spreading the word that we are here, and the work of our mission, making new connections, and growing our village to help strengthen and support the youth of foster care in our community!”
Our Village Closet works collaboratively with other organizations and agencies throughout the county to meet the needs of the youth in foster care as well as the caregivers. Not only does OVC provide equipment, clothing, shoes, toys, books, accessories, decor, diapers, etc., they also have connection groups for kids and adults. Here, the youth and their caregivers can find support, feel seen and heard, and be understood by others who get what this journey entails.
Because being trauma informed and being aware of the effects of childhood trauma is so important when it comes to support, Our Village Closet will offer trainings in the near future on trauma awareness and effects, sensory processing and supporting regulation, the importance of self care, and suicide awareness and prevention.
Team OVC consists of a few part-time staff, over 40 community volunteers, and a Board of Directors that includes foster and adoptive parents, social workers, former foster youth, a lawyer, HR and bookkeeper, and those who work in the mental health field.
For more information on Our Village Closet and their mission, please visit www.ourvillagecloset.org.
Contact info:
Name: Amanda Kitchens
Organization: Our Village Closet (OVC)
Address: 905 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Phone: +1-707-238-2806
Our Village Closet began as a dream of two foster mommas, Dominique Soileau and Amanda Kitchens. In December of 2018, they established OVC by collecting and distributing items to foster families around Sonoma County. The two moms did this, with 8 special needs kids between them, using donated warehouse space, storage units, their garages, their cars and a whole lot of heart. In June of 2021, their dreams became a reality when, with the guidance of Marin Foster Care Association and a space grant from St. Luke Lutheran Church, they opened a Resource Center on Mendocino Ave. in Santa Rosa, CA.
Since opening the Resource Center last June, Team OVC has served over 1700 youth affected by foster care, and their caregivers. Who are “youth affected by foster care?” Those eligible for free supplies and support at Our Village Closet are: current foster youth, former foster youth, youth adopted from foster care, youth being cared for by relatives/kinship caregivers, transitional age youth, children of former foster youth, and youth who have reunified with their biological parent(s).
“Each week, we see new faces of foster care coming into the Resource Center for much needed supplies. Each week, we make new connections, and it’s in those moments, where we offer support and belonging, that the village truly grows. Those connections are at the heart of why we started OVC," says Kitchens. “We look forward to spreading the word that we are here, and the work of our mission, making new connections, and growing our village to help strengthen and support the youth of foster care in our community!”
Our Village Closet works collaboratively with other organizations and agencies throughout the county to meet the needs of the youth in foster care as well as the caregivers. Not only does OVC provide equipment, clothing, shoes, toys, books, accessories, decor, diapers, etc., they also have connection groups for kids and adults. Here, the youth and their caregivers can find support, feel seen and heard, and be understood by others who get what this journey entails.
Because being trauma informed and being aware of the effects of childhood trauma is so important when it comes to support, Our Village Closet will offer trainings in the near future on trauma awareness and effects, sensory processing and supporting regulation, the importance of self care, and suicide awareness and prevention.
Team OVC consists of a few part-time staff, over 40 community volunteers, and a Board of Directors that includes foster and adoptive parents, social workers, former foster youth, a lawyer, HR and bookkeeper, and those who work in the mental health field.
For more information on Our Village Closet and their mission, please visit www.ourvillagecloset.org.
Contact info:
Name: Amanda Kitchens
Organization: Our Village Closet (OVC)
Address: 905 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Phone: +1-707-238-2806
Contact
Our Village Closet
Amanda Kitchens
707-238-2806
www.ourvillagecloset.org
Amanda Kitchens
707-238-2806
www.ourvillagecloset.org
Contact
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