Making It Happen Foundation » 2021

Forever Family Friday week 27 – Nikira and Nacari

April 30, 2021

Wow! Can you believe today is the last day of April and tomorrow is May 1st. Another month gone. Another season cranking up. May is a month packed with graduations, graduation activities, celebrations, spring sports, and end of the school year activities. Parents are excited and cheering their kids on. They’re celebrating their successes and planning the next leg of their journeys whether it’s getting ready for college or new career. Kids in foster care long for a family to share memorable moments and milestones. They would love to have a warm fuzzy family helping them plan for graduation or trying to figure out which college visits to take or what to wear to a senior celebration. We wish every foster child had a loving parent cheering at their games or snapping pictures as they walked across the stage at graduation. We wish they just had what other kids their age have. We need everyone reading this to continue the course and share, like, repost and discuss! Please! You don’t know how valuable you are to the success of these kids. Let’s cheer them on together. Let’s make sure they know they are loved and valuable!

Please meet Nikira and Nacari from MA. They are 13 & 14 years old. Nikiri is likable and friendly who gets along well with both adults and her peers. Her favorite activities include yoga, cooking, singing, dancing, and painting. She also enjoys going to church and being a part of her Girl Scout troop. When she grows up, she would like to be a teacher. Nikira is on the Autism Spectrum and her teachers describe her as intelligent, talkative, and able to follow directions and form relationships with others.

Nacari describes himself as shy, quiet, likable and well behaved. Others describe him as sweet, smart and loving. His favorite activities include playing basketball & video games. Nacari is on the Autism Spectrum but is quite social and is able to interact with his peers. Nacari does well in class with extra support and loves going to school. They will do best in a loving but strong family that is able to provide the siblings with support and set appropriate limits and boundaries! For more info Emily [email protected]

Forever Family Friday week 26 – Branden

April 23, 2021

Today marks HALF of a YEAR of #ForeverFamilyFridays. I just can’t believe that. Twenty six posts! We’ve had numerous kids matched. I posted one this week. We’ve had numerous home studies ordered. We’ve had a ton of questions asked. But what excites me is that in the past few weeks we have picked up momentum! And that’s fantastic. I think more people have heard about the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a foster kid. More people are sharing these kids each week. This is what we have been praying for.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Ok guys…it’s half time. We don’t need to take a timeout…we just need to take a deep breath, grab a drink and hit it hard again. No time for rest! We have the second half of the game to play and we need to go into the third quarter STRONG! You guys are my starters! I need you focused and game ready. Who is with me? These kids need us! Branden needs us!

Branden is 13 and lives in Oklahoma. He is a typical boy who has lots of questions and adventures. He loves books, especially about dinosaurs. He does have his favorite dinosaurs and can tell you so much about them. He says he is a gamer and likes Mario Maker. Branden enjoys school, especially math and science. His favorite movies are Jurassic World and Spider Man. He loves animals and would love his forever home to have some.

Please get in the game with us. Please help connect Branden with his forever family! We need you! For more info contact Becky at [email protected] or (405) 650-8947. Photo courtesy of Don Kreutzweiser

Please click here to view Branden’s video https://vimeo.com/498122014

#FamiliesDontHaveToMatch

Forever Family Friday week 25 – Leanne

April 19, 2021

A year ago we had so much confusion and so many questions in our world. Events were all being cancelled. Travel came to a halt. We were all trying to figure out where to purchase masks. We were fervently praying for those that were sick and those that had lost loved ones to this awful virus. Now…Fast forward 12 months, thankfully we are climbing out of the chaos. A little bit each day. Slowly and cautiously we are resuming normalcy. But here is my question to you: while you were worried and concerned about your family, who was worried and concerned about children in foster care? We know their foster parents try to love and support the best they can. Social workers and CASA volunteers try as well. But at the end of the day, they are not their mom or dad. They are not their forever family. That’s the void we are hoping to fill. And I’m sooo happy to tell you we had numerous inquiries on King this week. Several home studies were set up. Guys…THIS CAN WORK!!! PLEASE help us find families each Friday. Please!!! Today is a great day to start! Help us find a family for Leanne (great name by the way!)

Leanne is 17 and from Idaho. She is a kind, generous, outgoing and loves animals. One day she hopes to either become a Veterinarian or join the Air Force. She describes her best traits as her ability to easily make friends with just about anyone, and the way that she always tries to help out others. She loves to go fishing, swimming and camping. In addition she enjoys drawing, playing video games, board games and listening to Taylor Swift. Leanne can make scrambled eggs and wants to become even better at cooking for herself and her new family. She is a person who sees joy and excitement in even the smallest of things.

For more information please visit idahowednesdayschild.org or contact Melissa at [email protected]

#FamiliesDontHaveToMatch

Forever Family Friday week 24 – King

April 9, 2021

Happy Friday! I’m just curious, inquiring minds want to know…Did anyone wake up this morning and think “It’s Friday, I need to see what I can do to help the child Leigh Anne posted today?” I’m thinking no one did, not even the people in my own family. And that’s ok. I get it. We are all slammed BUT, that’s the life of a foster child. They are not anyone’s priority and are typically an after-thought, an item to be checked off a list. Many of you land here on my social media for a variety of things. Some for inspiration & encouragement. Some for interior design nuggets or our Disney adventures & travel. And a few hang out for life with Megaphone Man. I love all of that and your comments about my family and the crazy life we lead. However, what tears at my heart is the decrease in comments and likes on #ForeverFamilyFriday posts. These children should get the most attention! They should be a priority! There are some beautiful souls like @rob_scheer that are faithful about sharing and I thank you so very much! Thank you ALL for journeying along with me but I am pleading with you to take just literally two minutes every Friday to read about the kid that needs a family. I’m asking that you rally around, that you hang with me, that you like, share and comment on the 52 Fridays we share children in need of their forever family. Let’s start today! Let’s start with King! Let’s give him a reason to keep smiling and keep believing!

King is 9 years old from California. He is a charming and outgoing boy who’s always up for a new adventure or activity! Whether he is indoors or outside, King loves being busy and at the center of attention. King enjoys playing kickball, riding his bike, playing on his tablet, and using his hands to build things with Play-Dough or Legos. King is meeting his educational milestones in the classroom and is described as bright, inquisitive and open to learning new things. He loves recess and playing with his friends.

If staying active and having good times are among the things that are important with your family, King may be the perfect fit! Contact Yesenia at [email protected] 213-257-7007 Philicia Edelman

#FamiliesDontHaveToMatch

#OpenHeartOpenHome

Forever Family Friday week 23 – Aayalliah

April 2, 2021

As I was looking over so many beautiful faces this week of foster kids to post and thinking of what to say to you that might give you reason to pause and stop…just for a minute. I wondered if there was a correlation between Easter and foster care that I could share with you. There are 420,000 plus kids in the foster care system because of no fault of their own. They are not able to experience life abundantly. Basic things are hard for them. Milestones are missed. Experiences are not shared. But think about it just for a minute…Easter is a comeback story! It reminds us that God can offer new life when all seems hopeless. There is hope for these foster kids as well. My prayer is that each child has the opportunity to hear about Jesus and the life He has for them…for them to know there is hope. Their stories are not over! We need you to be a part of their journey. We need you to talk about them and share their names with others. That is MY Easter prayer and wish!

Please Meet Aayalliah! She is 14 and from Mississippi. She describes herself as pretty, smart, funny, and talkative. She enjoys riding her bike, coloring and playing with dogs. She would like to be a veterinarian and learn more about dogs. When she grows up she would like to join the Army because she is strong and thinks the structure and discipline of the Army would be good for her. Germany in the wintertime is her dream destination because she likes snow and cold weather. Aayalliah said family means to her “a home you stay in for good…..they don’t take things from you…where there is joy and peace.” She wants to be part of a family with a “positive vibe” who all enjoy being with one another.

I know many of you would fit the description of “positive vibe” with all our interactions here on instagram! Will you help be part of the solution? Do you know someone who can help Aayalliah rewrite her story? Please call 601-359-4133 or email [email protected]. Photography by: Charlie Lum

Watch this video and see how she lights up from the inside out!

#FamiliesDontHaveToMatch

#Easter

#Love

#Hope