This Sat morning, we are thankful for Jason and Irene, foster parents from the HFG community, share their fostering journey at our joint fostering intro session with Epworth Foster Care . Both of them literally glowed with joy as they shared about their fostering journey! Definitely not expecting this… if you know that they are parents/foster parents to 5 biological/foster children, including a few months old foster child. Here’s a few takeaways from their sharing. - Fostering has bonded their family closer together, including their extended family. Jason shared that his marriage is also stronger now, because of better communication with his wife and how fostering and his faith have changed his attitude/heart. Fostering requires team work! Irene shared that she has also come to know herself much better now, and that she needed help first in order to help others. - Fostering has blessed each of their biological child (e.g., extending grace to others) as well as their relatio

Blessed to hear Jam Buen share again with us about what God is doing tru Generations-Home in the Philippines. They are working to end the orphan crisis there through fostering and adoption, and supporting preg moms in crisis. There are 1.8 mil orphans in the Philippines, over 6 mil kids in out of home care or on the streets - this is as big as the population in SG!!! In 5 years, Generations Home has supported 74 moms, and thru these moms helped 198 children. One of only 4 adoption agencies in the whole country, they are now journeying with 86 families adopting tru them. If u wanna support their work, pl check the link https://www.generationshome.org/singapore

Being foster parents and journeying with fellow foster parents in the past 10 years, we are very thankful for UBS Optimus Foundation’s support in this new program - Befrienders for Families (BFF) - co-developed by both HFG-SG and The Salvation Army Singapore (TSA)! Supporting the natural families of the foster children is also important in the entire care continuum. Last Friday, the BFF program was officially launched at TSA’s Red Shield Appeal Event 2023. Here’s a few photos taken at the event. We were too busy meeting new and old friends, and eating, so here’s only 3 photos!

  We love the HFG community, being there for one another You are not alone in your fostering journey. “Dear friends, I wanted to say thank you here for all the help, support and prayers I received when I reached out with this request (as well as subsequent ones)… The past couple of months have been quite difficult with us as we navigated many issues and this group has been a blessing. … Thank you again for everyone's generosity and help. I am sure I will be reaching out again in the future with more questions! “ Foster Parent, Ling (Permission obtained to share this message sent to the community earlier this month)

We are thankful to meet a few of our partners in the past few weeks. It is always encouraging to meet like-minded people who are passionate about supporting vulnerable children and youth. The work is challenging, but it doesn’t stop them - their love, compassion, wisdom and perseverance continue to make a difference to the lives of these children, youth and even their families. Their work is often behind the scenes, coordinating between various stakeholders, counselling and providing practical care and support, preparing and executing outreach events to advocate and recruit more foster parents/volunteers, being the voice for the vulnerable… the list continues. Each case, each individual is unique, never to assume the same. So let’s not forget to express our gratitude and extend encouragement to them!

Heartfelt sharing and prayer by Jolene Ng, foster mother from the HFG community. “I decided to sketch this piece because my heart is broken. My heart is grieved and it hurts.  Read in the Straits Times yesterday of 2 cases of child abuse: 1 girl aged 5 and another aged 11 both abused to DEATH in their homes in Singapore. Children are vulnerable. They are weak, they are defenseless, they are trusting, they need to be protected. Children are given to us to LOVE.  Yet these children have been abused by their loved ones for months… to their DEATHS!!!  These children shouldn’t have had to suffer, to fear in their own homes.  I cry out to God for the injustice, for the sin that has been committed against them! I pray to God to use me, to use even me, to help, to give respite, to create awareness, in whatever small ways, use me and all that I am. Amen.”

  We collaborated with our partner Good Pathways to organise our first event together - Let’s Talk Adoption - a workshop about post-adoption journey. After the workshop, we were also blessed to participate in their 10th anniversary celebration! Our ED, Kuan Ying, introduced HFG and shared her journey with adoptive parents, clearly expressing her deep gratitude and love for these parents. We were excited to meet new friends who learnt about our work and this workshop via FB, and “old” friends who have become dear sojourners over the years. Participants to the event comprised adoptive parents, prospective adoptive parents and supporters of adoption, including professionals from the social sector. Both Good Pathways’ founder Elaine (adoptive parent) and adoptee Ashley shared unique perspectives of the adoption journey from their personal experiences as well as from their interactions with other adoptive parents/adoptee. Their sharing included the adoptive identity, the search and discove