5 Ways to Show Love to Kinship Caregivers
If you know someone who is providing kinship foster care, odds are they would appreciate a little extra love this Valentine’s Day.
“If someone could do a load of laundry for me, or even just fold my laundry and put it away, that would be so life-giving.”
Kinship caregivers provide foster care for a relative or other child with whom they already have a personal relationship, often without much notice and with minimal financial support from the state. And while providing kinship care is an act of love, it comes with layers of complexity and stress.
Seeds Community Center asked caregivers in our Kinship Family Enrichment program what others could do to show them love, and here is what they shared:
Time together as a couple. Watch the kids while we get out of the house for a bit. This could be at our house or yours.
Come into my house to watch the kids so I can shower, clean, run errands, pay bills online, go to the bathroom alone… If the kids have to leave the house, it’s actually harder and more disruptive for me.
Plan my meals for a week and grocery shop for me
Cook a meal for me and clean up afterward
If someone could do a load of laundry for me, or even just fold my laundry and put it away, that would be so life-giving.
We’ve all heard the age-old saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Kinship parents are simply asking for their village to lend a hand. Let’s show our loved ones we care for them by doing just that.
