New Organization Supports Dakota County Foster Families

DAKOTA COUNTY, MN — A new non-profit aims to support foster, adoptive and kinship families across Dakota County.

Foster Together MN officially launched in October and is waiting for approval to become an official 501 (c)(3) non-profit, according to the founder, Micayla Johnson.

Johnson told Patch that in 2019, her and her husband began the process to become licensed foster parents in Minnesota, but had no prior connection with anybody in the foster care community.

"We sought out a community of people and struggled to find anything that existed here," Johnson said. "Toward the end of our licensing process, we started a small group at our church for foster and adoptive families. And it kicked off the Sunday before COVID hit."

Throughout 2020, Johnson shared that she felt a nudge to bring the group outside the church and involve more community members.

In November of 2020, Johnson said she posted a survey in several foster care Facebook pages and found that only 17 percent of foster parents that responded felt supported by their communities. This is what sparked the idea for Johnson to create a non-profit, she said.

"It's really focused on relationships, whether that's relationships within the foster care community or relationships with the community members like businesses, churches and individuals," Johnson said. "Doing service projects, we've learned that people who aren't in the foster care community want to help, they just don't know how. They think that the only way to do that is to become a foster parent. So if we can give them tangible specific ways to get involved, they seem to have a big heart for it and to jump right on it. So it's really about bringing the community and foster care together to move this mission forward."

Foster Together MN is currently launching connect groups in order to connect those in the foster, adoptive and kinship community, Johnson said. There is already a foster mom connect group that meets monthly, and Johnson said the non-profit is working to launch a similar group for foster dads.

The non-profit is additionally working with licensed therapists to create emotional support groups and foster parent coaching programs, Johnson told Patch.

Foster Together MN also helps foster families who may be in need after a child is placed.

"We can wrap around them with tangible support at that time," Johnson said. "For example we just had a single foster mom who had two babies placed with her in a period of two weeks so we brought over diapers and bottles and wipes, clothes, all of that."

Another was the non-profit supports families in the first few days on a placement is with its "First Meal Fund." Johnson said that Foster Together MN partners with local restaurants and businesses to provide a first meal together after a placement.

"We strive to provide a meal for that family within the first few days of a placement, because we believe that having that time together to just take a breath and enjoy a meal together, creates bonding and just takes one thing off their plate," Johnson said.

Another way for local businesses to get involved is through the community partner program and offer discounts to foster families, Johnson said.

Foster Together MN also has "need email subscriptions." If a request for resources comes in, subscribers are sent an email and can go purchase the items for the family, Johnson said.

More information about Foster Together MN can be found here.