Local agency works to give foster families dignity and support

This article is part of an ongoing Inspiring Generosity series highlighting people, agencies, and programs the Bay Area Community Foundation supports.

In 2020, Sarah Humerickhouse founded the Foster Families Navigation and Resource Center (FFNRC) to support foster families. Now, she’s created an endowment fund at the Bay Area Community Foundation to support the nonprofit organization she created.

“I don’t want this to end with me,” Humerickhouse says. “This isn’t a 10-year cool thing we’re doing. I want it to last for my grandchildren. I don’t want to work this hard and have it fall apart. The next step is to make it last 50 years.”

The FFNRC provides everything from clothing and backpacks for foster children to support groups for foster parents.

“We are trying to keep that dignity for the kiddos.I can give you a shirt that’s been in the back of my car and smells funny, but what does that shirt really mean vs. a shirt that you pick out from a hanger and you love?”

– Sarah Humerickhouse, Founder and Executive Director of the Foster Families Navigation and Resource Center

“(The endowment) is a way for people to be able to give to us and to our sustainability,” she says. “I just really feel it’s a good partnership.”

In the beginning, the agency existed inside a 200-square-foot closet in Auburn. In 2022, it moved to a 6,000-square-foot building at 1501 W. Thomas St., donated by SME.  Satellite offices also are at 6800 Eastman Ave. in Midland; 5801 Dixie Highway in Saginaw; and 113 W. Cedar Ave. in Gladwin.

The main facility in Bay County includes a Resource Boutique, an area for kids to wait while a caseworker finds a foster home, conference rooms, offices, and storage.

The main floor is a few steps up from street level. Here, you’ll find the lobby, offices, and conference rooms. The walls are painted what Humerickhouse calls “NRC blue.”  Humerickhouse says they chose this particular shade for its calming properties.

“Sometimes case workers come in and just sit for a bit,” she says.

The gem of the first floor is the Resource Boutique, which is organized like a store. Both new clothes and freshly-laundered used clothes hang on racks, organized by size and style. Linens and bedding sit on shelves. Hanging from hooks are colorful backpacks – featuring every design from muted tones for teens to cartoon characters and vibrant colors for younger kids. Each backpack is stuffed with school supplies.

“We are trying to keep that dignity for the kiddos,” Humerickhouse says. “I can give you a shirt that’s been in the back of my car and smells funny, but what does that shirt really mean vs. a shirt that you pick out from a hanger and you love?”

The FFNRC is available to families as long as the kids are in care. Families often pick up necessities when kids arrive, come back in August for school supplies, and return again before summer camps begin. When children grow or their needs change, the boutique offers new items.

“We want to really support the necessities so they can do the family bonding in the home,” Humerickhouse says.

FFNRC President Brianna Lyons points out the value of the service.

“When children are removed form a parental home and placed in foster care, there are times they are placed with nothing due to the emergency or the conditions of the home,” Lyons says.

“These children often come with very little or nothing. The FFNRC steps up immediately and will allow the children to go in and shop or they will allow caseworkers to make a very quick grab to get clothing, hygiene items, school supplies…”

The FFNRC also accepts donations of full-size hygiene products. This isn’t a weekend visit, so travel sizes don’t make sense. Humerickhouse listens to the kids before she stocks anything in the boutique. She stocks only the brands kids want.

Humerickhouse is quick to add that no donation goes to waste. When items come in that the Resource Center can’t use, they donate them to other appropriate agencies including the Arenac County Baby Pantry and Threads of Hope resale boutique.

Rich Van Tol, who runs several early childhood programs at the Bay-Arenac ISD, says area organizations serving families and young children try to avoid duplicating efforts while still making sure people get what they need.

“We work across agencies and counties to ensure that all donated material goods are used in our region to support families with basic needs,” Van Tol says.

Heather Stroh, Coordinator of the Arenac County Baby Pantry and a member of the Arenac County Child Protection Council, says her partnership with the FFNRC formed in 2021. The Arenac County Baby Pantry is located inside the Sunrise Community Resource Center in Standish. It’s filled with clothing, toys, diapers, and gear for kids up to 5 years old.

The partnership started when Humerickhouse, a foster parent herself, called Stroh to offer baby items left after a church-based rummage sale. Today, the FFNRC regularly donates items it can’t use.

“I get an email from Sarah or a text from Rich that says ‘I have a carload of donations,’ “ Stroh says. “Then I’m sending someone to pick them up, or, more often than not, Rich Van Tol is picking them up in his vehicle and driving them here.”

The Arenac Baby Pantry serves a wide swath of the community.

“We service everyone. We service foster families. We service moms and dads. We have grandparents that come in. I don’t care who you are or how much money you make or don’t make.“

Brianna Lyons, President of the FFNRC, says items for older kids go to Threads of Hope resale boutique, 807 Salzburg Ave. The boutique benefits foster, adoptive, and kinship families in the area.

“Nothing getting dropped off to the FFNRC is going to be in the dumpster,” Lyons says.

Neither the Arenac County Baby Pantry or the FFNRC accept anything stained, damaged, or emblazoned with political statements.

“If I wouldn’t put my own kids in it, I won’t put it out,” Stroh says. “Just because they can’t afford to buy brand new doesn’t mean the kids deserve to not wear something that looks new.”

Humerickhouse adds the FFNRC is much more than its boutique.

A few steps from the boutique, a well-lit staircase leads into a bright basement housing a visitation room, training room, and “Haven 127.” Humerickhouse calls Haven 127 her favorite room.

“There’s nothing like this anywhere else,” she says.

When kids are removed from a home and a foster home isn’t immediately available, they can wait inside Haven 127. It’s available 24 hours a day. The alternative is sitting in their caseworker’s office while a home is located.

“If I wouldn’t put my own kids in it, I won’t put it out. Just because they can’t afford to buy brand new doesn’t mean the kids deserve to not wear something that looks new.”

– Heather Stroh, Coordinator of the Arenac County Baby Pantry

The space feels like a cozy family room in a finished basement. It’s outfitted with a couch, TV, toys, gaming system, fish tank, crib, beanbag chairs, and a kitchen table. Caseworkers can access it 24/7. Inside, the kids can relax, play games, and even order food.

“This is so much more warm, inviting, and calming … even the caseworkers appreciate it,” Humerickhouse says. “It’s so nice for the kids to go here instead of a DHHS (Michigan Department of Health & Human Services) office.”

“I wish it never got used,” but she estimates it is used once every few months.

“Our kids are resilient, and they really are – until they’re not,” she adds. She hopes the room comforts kids after the trauma of a removal.

Nearby is a parenting time room. Inside it, kids and parents can sit at a table or relax on a couch while using a refrigerator and microwave to prepare food. Art hangs on the walls.

One wall has a window, slightly camouflaged, that looks into an observation room. Humerickhouse says the window isn’t disguised completely so families are aware someone is observing them. However, the separation gives them some privacy.

Inside the observation room, a caseworker can see and hear what happens inside the visitation room as well as Haven 127. The room also offers caseworkers a desk where they can work and make phone calls.

It’s not the only way the FFNRC helps caseworkers, Lyons adds.

When the FFNRC sees the burden is heavy, perhaps the caseload is high or a case was especially traumatic, they support the caseworkers. “We might show up with coffee or send an ice cream truck to the office,” Lyons says.

Humerickhouse is proud of the work the FFNRC does for families, kids, and caseworkers. She’s also proud that the community – through businesses, donors, and volunteers – supports the Resource Center.

“We did that, community. We did that,” she says, pointing to a fully-stocked storage room. “It’s like a fairy tale dream come true. This is my life I get to live.”