We had so much fun with this sweet familia decorating their hotel room! I don’t usually show pics but they wanted to share 🙂 We went on a mission together to see how we could cheer up their small space, and they opted for lots of glitter! As we shopped and were replacing so much that was lost, I thought about how I have treasured creating a tradition of pulling out our ornaments each year. How my losses as a child created a deep need for a stable family tradition, and how sad I would be to lose it. All of these losses are simply more complex when you’ve had layers of struggle.
So, it is very touching to me that some have messaged asking if they can adopt a familia for the holidays. YES PLEASE. I’m not a big material Xmas person. (Just ask my children!) But for the past many years I have put a call out for holiday gifts for foster youth because when you are marginalized and you’re seeing holiday festivities everywhere, it is so hard to feel on the OUTSIDE of this. And the fact remains that right now is a hard time for many familias.
Early on, as I was meeting with familias and distributing funds, I handed 9 and 10yo siblings $50 each. They were thrilled and their mama said, “Here give it to me, I’ll hold it for you.” The clearly, stronger willed daughter held tight to her cash and was extremely reluctant, saying with sass “No, you’re just going to spend it!” “Are you sure you’ll give it back to me?!” It was comical and real and just a clear fact. When you are struggling, it’s hard to spend money on indulgences. I felt for mama and shifted away from giving kids cash because of this complication (which ironically is what I was trying to address by giving it directly to the youth.)
So yes, let’s ADOPT SOME FAMILIAS to just make it a little easier and remind them that they are not forgotten.
Together we can bring light and warmth into the dark of winter, where it’s needed most. As mama said after our decorating adventure, “the best part is that they were excited and had fun!”
Here are a couple ways to help the over 100 familias I’m connected with:
- If you’d like to adopt a family, please DM me with what size family you’d prefer, and what gift range ($) works for you per person
- Or the simpler option, donations can be sent to Venmo@Sylvia Poareo, and we will give directly to families for the holidays.
Thank you all for holding our comunidad in your hearts and supporting any way you can!
To Donate:
Go Fund Me: www.gofundme.com/f/almedafireslatinxrelief
Venmo: @sylvia-Poareo
Note:
I’ve been sharing my experience of the Almeda Fire in southern Oregon on my Facebook page, but I want to share it here so you can all walk with me on this journey. Click the “Almeda Fire” tag at the bottom of this post to read the entire series.