May Founder's Letter
May 2023
Dear Friends,
We all need to support each other. Those that work in support roles - nurses, teachers, therapists, counselors, clergy, coaches - they need support too. We are launching a new program at Lead with Love called “Care for the Caregivers”. Our intent is to gather resources and offer services to the heroes in our community and beyond who are dedicated to helping others. You can read my recent article in The Aspen Times HERE about this and my letter below that is what motivated me to start this program by helping those who help children.
I hate to know what I know. During my fertility journey I spent hours researching adoption and foster care. I felt so sad that I wanted children and wasn’t able to conceive naturally and saw that there were thousands and thousands of kids out there that needed mothers. It seemed so unfair. How could I mother these children? I wanted to know so I went deep into the system researching how to help kids that needed a family.
I felt the yearning to be a mother so strongly I imagined the yearning for a mother by a child must be even stronger. No child should have to endure that kind of craving - to be loved and to belong - and yet so many do. They are alone in a world with no one to care… until someone does.
More than half of the kids in foster care end up in jail or worse. That’s a pretty depressing and not surprising statistic. I heard another statistic recently from one of my colleagues at CASA of the Ninth, a non-profit org based in Glenwood Springs (part of the larger national CASA network) that helps children navigate the court system when their parents are deemed unfit to care for them. What my college said was this: It takes ONE person to change someone’s life. Just one positive mentor or caretaker can completely change the trajectory of these kids’ lives. And, you can be that person!
There are over 400,000 kids in foster care in the US. There are many thousands more in the in between - not qualified yet for foster care, but not able to live in their homes due to abuse and neglect.
I had a dream at one point to open a foster home and to make it the most magical place on earth filled with tons of loving staff, lots of therapy, animals, gardens, grandparents, a sense of community and most importantly a place called ‘home’ for as many deserving kids as I could handle. I made dozens of calls, I talked to anyone who knew anything about foster care and the child welfare system. I got passed around from one person to the next. In the end, it felt too complicated and impossible to navigate the bureaucracy. I gave up. I think a lot of other well meaning people give up, too. I still want to help. It needs to look a little different now, but I can’t stand to know what I know and not do something about it.
I’m grateful for CASA of the Ninth and other agencies and organizations dedicated to children for the incredibly important work that they do. I wish we lived in a world where these agencies didn’t exist because they weren’t necessary, but the truth is we need more of them and the ones we do have need more staff, more resources and different and better laws to make a bigger difference.
One thing I know I can do for now is to support the amazing people - volunteers and staff - who are working in this child welfare system every day on behalf of children. We can support the supporters with things that can help ease the burden even just a little bit. We can help the helpers because they are holding a beacon of light in a place that can seem pretty dark and hopeless. I am not able to be on the front lines right now, but I know I can support the ones who are.
This month we are hosting a retreat with CASA for their advocates. We are open and available to host retreats or classes for caregivers of all types, but particularly those working on behalf of children. Please reach out to me if you’d like to support this work and can help us scale the program.
Click HERE to read my column for The Aspen Times about CASA. If you feel so called, reach out to them or a CASA or Guardian Ad Litem organization near you to be that one person for a child who can change everything just by showing them you care.
Click HERE to read my column this month for The Aspen Times about CASA. If you feel so called, reach out to them or a CASA or Guardian Ad Litem organization near you to help. https://www.aspentimes.com/news/murdock-care-for-the-caregivers/
With Love and Gratitude to each of you for the preciousness that is you.
Gina
Care For The Caregivers Retreat
We are delighted to be partnering with CASA of the Ninth to host the first annual Care for the Caregivers Retreat for advocates & volunteers. If you are a caregiver in the valley and think you could benefit from a day of self-care and inspiration please reach out to Traci Gurley-Tomashosky here for more info and to register. This event is free of charge and designed to serve those who serve.
