A nationally recognized foster care, adoption, and youth services agency based in Southern California is heading for a milestone. Walden Family Services, which was created in 1976, celebrates its 50th anniversary next year.
With its strong focus on personal growth and community involvement, the nonprofit has continually expanded its impact. A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation through the Fred Stebler and Eva V. Stebler Foundation Fund will further assist the nonprofit in its efforts to provide children the love, stability, love, and support of a nurturing family.
"The grant was beneficial because it helped pay for things like medical supplies, additional medical treatments, and other things that Medi-Cal doesn't cover," said Teresa Stivers, CEO of Walden Family Services. "For instance, if we have a child on the spectrum who has prescription glasses, but they've broken their glasses, Medi-Cal will not pay for another pair. And of course, we don't want that child to not have the glasses they need."
She offered another example which found the nonprofit helping a non-mobile child with special transportation needs. A portion of the grant was used to help the child's foster parents retrofit their vehicle to accommodate the child's needs.
"It really helped get them to all of their medical appointments and so forth," Stivers said. "Supporting the well-being of medically fragile and developmentally delayed children in foster care is important to us."
Walden Family Services holds several key accreditations from regional and national organizations, such as the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, CARF, and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's All Children -- All Families initiative.
"We're always looking for foster parents for these children, and sometimes it can be very hard to find homes for them," Stivers said.
And if those children aren't able to be placed in a foster home? Stivers comes back to the non-mobile child who benefited from the recent grant.
"If the vehicle we helped retrofit wasn't modified, that child would still be in the hospital today, and would not be living in a family home situation," she said. "Finding foster parents is important."
"We work really hard to provide all the different types of support that the family and the child need," she said. "There's just so much need in the Inland Empire, and children are being institutionalized because we can't find enough families."
Stivers pointed out that the nonprofit has found success with placing children with retired nurses and people who work in special education. "It's people looking to open their hearts and their homes for a child in need."
Behind the scenes, the nonprofit has trained social work professionals and licensed therapists who support birth, foster, and adoptive families and the community in caring for children and youth. Many of them have physical or developmental disabilities, and behavioral or mental health challenges. Some identify as LGBTQ+ or come from large sibling groups.
Stivers said preparing families to care for children with special health care needs or disabilities allows children to grow up in families, rather than skilled-nursing facilities, hospitals, or group homes.
Living with a family helps children and youth build relationships, she said, which creates a foundation for learning, social-emotional well-being, and more fulfilling lives.
"I have been here for 15 years and I'm still a newbie," Stivers said. "What I appreciate the most about being here is seeing the dedication of the foster families, the ones who open their hearts in their homes. They really go above and beyond for our kiddos and look for every opportunity and every resource to make their lives better.
"I don't think that people realize that foster families are really like angels on earth," she said. "They make a huge difference in our community. They're unsung heroes."
Learn more at waldenfamily.org.