POINT PLEASANT — The Village Foster Care Closet runs on kindness and generosity, providing items necessary for foster parents and children in order to fulfill their mission to help foster families throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties in need.
The organization operates out of a storefront at 2429 Bridge Avenue, but the idea of helping foster families had been a long-time passion for founder Jacquie Olson of Point Pleasant, who, herself, is a foster mother.
Ms. Olson told The Ocean Star that, when she chose to foster children, she was immediately placed with a six-month-old child. Later, she was asked to take in the baby’s brother and sister, going from having no children to three in a short period of time. Suddenly inundated with the need to provide for foster children, who oftentimes are left behind in terms of both belongings and emotional support, Ms. Olson relied on the help of others.
“I have a really great support system and I have friends and family who essentially are like my village, and they drop off clothes and meals and anything when we do say yes to a new child. But it got me thinking like, ‘What if someone didn’t have a spouse or a mom or an aunt nearby to help them out, and what if they just needed a little bit of extra support?’”
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