{"id":9270,"date":"2023-11-20T14:13:12","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T18:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/?p=9270"},"modified":"2023-11-20T15:55:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T19:55:19","slug":"a-hand-to-hold-novembers-adoption-awareness-month-campaign-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/2023\/11\/a-hand-to-hold-novembers-adoption-awareness-month-campaign-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Hand to Hold\u201d November\u2019s Adoption Awareness Month Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9289 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Final_vertical_logo-03-002-300x192.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Final_vertical_logo-03-002-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Final_vertical_logo-03-002.jpg 565w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4>Every November for Adoption Awareness Month, JFS partners with WTVR CBS 6 to present \u201cA Hand to Hold,\u201d a multimedia campaign spotlighting children in Central Virginia\u2019s foster care system waiting for a loving family.<\/h4>\n<p>Each day in November, CBS 6 will air the unique story of a youth or teen in foster care, giving thousands of potential parents an opportunity to meet a young individual they might never have gotten the chance to meet.<\/p>\n<p>You may even recognize and connect with someone you already know!\u00a0 We hope to inspire individuals, couples, and families to get involved, whether as foster parents, respite families, or mentors.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9274\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9274\" style=\"width: 343px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9274 \" src=\"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Agencies_JFS_2022-Connecting-Hearts-Event-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"343\" height=\"457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Agencies_JFS_2022-Connecting-Hearts-Event-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Agencies_JFS_2022-Connecting-Hearts-Event-315x420.jpg 315w, https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Agencies_JFS_2022-Connecting-Hearts-Event.jpg 413w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 343px) 100vw, 343px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9274\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bill Fitzgerald of CBS Channel Six with a couple at 2022 Connecting Hearts event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are almost 700 children and teens in Central Virginia\u2019s foster care system through no fault of their own. When youth currently in foster care are taken from their families, there are not enough foster care families available for them, so they are placed in a group home or residential foster care facility. Today, many of them continue to live there, even years later.<\/p>\n<h4>Over half of all kids in foster care are teenagers \u2013 the most difficult children to find homes for. 250 of them are between 16 and 21 years old and at risk of \u201caging out\u201d of foster care without a safety net. 20% of children who age out become homeless; half develop a substance dependence; only 3% ever earn a college degree. The future is bleak for children in foster care who never find a family of their own.<\/h4>\n<p>Connecting Hearts\u2019 is a program offered through JFS.\u00a0 Our mission is \u201cto find foster, adoptive, and kinship families for every child\u201d\u00a0 who can give them the love and support, and skills they need for a brighter future.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, it\u2019s never too late to adopt! Just one positive relationship with a loving, supportive adult can change a young person\u2019s life forever.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about children in foster care or how you can get involved, please reach out to the Connecting Hearts Program Manager, Denise Wise-David, at<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:dwise-david@jfsrichmond.org\"><em>dwise-david@jfsrichmond.org<\/em><\/a> or (804) 349-0786.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every November for Adoption Awareness Month, JFS partners with WTVR CBS 6 to present \u201cA Hand to Hold,\u201d a multimedia campaign spotlighting children in Central Virginia\u2019s foster care system waiting for a loving family. Each day in November, CBS 6 will air the unique story of a youth or teen in foster care, giving thousands [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,28],"tags":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9270"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9270"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9291,"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9270\/revisions\/9291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}