N.B. organization focuses on helping foster families provincewide

Taking over one corner of Amanda Lepper’s garage is carefully labelled bins stacked on top of one another, but they aren’t filled with typical supplies, they’re filled with donations for foster families in need.

“We adopted a little girl when she was 3.5 [years old] and she has siblings that went into the system and it broke my heart because I really wanted to take them and I knew I couldn’t,” said Lepper, the Moncton coordinator for Fostering Closet NB.

“I’m a full time teacher, we have two other children and there was just no way and so I thought ‘I have to do something to help families, foster families.’”

Today, Lepper is apart of a growing organization called Fostering Closet NB – a group that aims to make things easier for both the foster families and the children and youth who are in care.

Co-founder and Owner, Kailha Winter-Smith, who is also the coordinator for the Fredericton area, says a lot of time the children that go to a new foster home are doing it empty handed.

“Although they do get funding to be able to get basic needs, it’s not enough to cover the things they require, so we fill that gap,” she said.

Adding, “I was a foster family many years ago, [for] six years exactly, up until 2020 and when I was a foster family I kind of started and did it my own, my garage was filed with bins because I always wanted to be ready for children and what I found was children were coming into care that afternoon and they needed items and I was trying to scramble to find things.”

Fostering Closet NB first started in 2022 in Fredericton and Woodstock and currently it has grown to Saint John and the Greater Moncton Area.

The service is completely free for foster families to lean on and relies completely on donations and volunteered time.

“The families are so grateful,” said Winter-Smith.

“Some of them are reluctant because they’re like ‘can I pay? What can I do’ and I say ‘these are for you and the children that you’re taking care of’ and they’re so grateful and so thankful when it comes to the items and things were able to get for them and I’m just grateful to be able to help.”

While the organization has already grown in just two years, those involved have big plans moving forward.

Winter-Smith says she wants to expand across the province and reach northern New Brunswick and eventually have Fostering Closet NB set up so she can apply for grants and funds.

Additionally, both Woodstock and Greater Moncton are currently being run out of the coordinator’s homes so the goal is to find a better and bigger location for both.

“I’d like to see it so we can have shopping events and open the doors up instead of me preparing bags and popping it on my step or meeting somebody,” said Lepper.

“That way people can come in and choose, right now I sit down and choose.”

Overall, organizers say they try to focus on clothing items, tooth brushes and other essential needs, however, they try to get whatever the family needs like a crib for example and Lepper always makes sure a stuffed animal ends up on top of the donation bag.

“I also want families to know that it’s not just a one time ‘oh we received a child in care can you help us up front,’ this is something, you know, children stay in care for a while sometimes and they grow, so we’re here for one those children grow too,” said Lepper.

Fostering Closet NB doesn’t know how many families they’ve helped since 2022, but Winter-Smith estimates it to be in the hundreds.

She adds that she never expected it to grow to this size and now there are local businesses and multiple volunteers that provide help for foster families across the province.

“In such a difficult time, we want to make sure they have everything they need,” she said.

“[…] I just want to take that burden away from those families and the children so this is one thing that we can do with all the other things that are going on.”

There are a number of ways that people can get involved including donations, picking-up/organizing items or helping find a more suitable location. The best way to see what’s needed is to reach out to Fostering Closet NB directly.

“The foster families that take children in, they’re amazing like they take other people’s kids in and give them what they need for a time and what wonderful people to try and help,” said Lepper.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.