May marks National Foster Care Month — a time for us to honor and recognize the resilience of children and families impacted by foster care. But it’s so much more than just raising awareness. It’s a call for each of us to step forward and make a meaningful impact — not only by supporting foster families, who open their homes, hearts, and lives to children in need, but also by investing in efforts that strengthen families before they reach a crisis point. By coming together to support families in staying whole and healthy, we can help ease the burden on an already overextended foster care system. Now, more than ever, we have the opportunity to stand beside foster families — not just in May, but throughout the year.

Through CarePortal, local churches and community members have opportunities to create lasting, meaningful change for children and families. Whether it’s by providing a bed for a child, a car seat for a baby, or relieving other tangible burdens so parents can focus on their connections with their children, your involvement can have a profound impact. This month, we’re inviting you to meet one need in May — a simple yet powerful way to take that first step. In this blog, we’ll explore how you can get involved and continue to support foster families for years to come. Meeting just one need can be the beginning of a ripple effect that brings hope and stability to a family in crisis.

1. Meet a Need Right Now

Needs in foster care don’t come on a schedule — they emerge in real time and often with real urgency. Sometimes, what a child needs when they settle into a new home is as basic as clothes that fit, a bed just for them, and the things they need for school. These aren’t just items on a checklist — they are expressions of dignity, safety, and care.

CarePortal creates a direct connection between these tangible needs and local churches who are ready to respond. Caseworkers post needs that they’ve identified during home visits, and in just a few clicks, someone nearby can step in to help with personal, real-time compassion. When you meet a need through CarePortal, you’re not just delivering something practical. You’re delivering hope.

2. Support Foster Families Through Your Church

Churches are uniquely positioned to wrap around foster families — not just with meals and donations, but with community and care. For many families, the decision to foster comes from a place of deep conviction. But conviction doesn’t eliminate exhaustion. They need encouragement, prayer, practical help, and sometimes just a reminder that they’re not in this alone.

When a church becomes active through CarePortal, it can become a hub of support, offering things like physical needs, community meals, household items, and relational presence. The connection becomes more than transactional. It becomes transformational, creating lasting relationships between families and their faith communities. This is the kind of love that stays.

3. Mobilize Your Business to Care

Business leaders and teams often ask how they can give back in a way that’s truly meaningful. The truth is, businesses have a powerful role to play in strengthening the child welfare system, not just through financial giving, but by cultivating a culture of care and awareness.

From matching donations and giving church responders time to deliver a need, to responding to specific needs for goods or services, companies of every size can turn compassion into action. When a business partners with CarePortal, it becomes more than a workplace. It becomes a force for restoration in the community. And that kind of leadership doesn’t go unnoticed.

4. Engage Your Community Group

Foster care isn’t something any one person can tackle alone. But together? We have everything we need. Community groups, whether it’s a book club, a neighborhood association, a small group, or a civic organization, can rally around a single need or provide support for a whole network of families in their area.

By simply coming together to meet a posted request, groups begin to form a web of care that extends far beyond what any one person could do. It’s in these shared acts of kindness that strangers become neighbors, and neighborhoods become communities where families are truly supported.

5. Become a Partner

Sometimes, the best thing we can do is use our voice to advocate for someone else. If you are a CarePortal approved requesting agency and know a family that’s struggling, maybe a mom trying to reunify with her kids or a foster parent overwhelmed by the needs piling up, you can step in on their behalf.

CarePortal allows individuals from approved organizations to submit needs for children and families they really know. These needs then become visible to others in the community who are ready to help. This simple step, seeing the need and choosing not to look away, can prevent a child from entering the system or help a family stay together in a season that feels impossible. Whether you serve children and families professionally and are looking for support from an entire community, or are a member of a local church and just want your small group or congregation to respond, submitting needs invites others into the space of foster care to support families opening their hearts and homes.

6. Support the Movement Financially

Behind every need that’s met, behind every child who gets to stay with their family, behind every church, business, or community group that gets involved, there’s an organization making it possible. CarePortal’s mission is built on the belief that technology and compassion together can transform the child welfare system. But this platform, and the human connection it enables, only works because of people who choose to invest in it.

Every financial gift, whether large or small, helps expand this work, keeping the system running, growing into new regions, and ultimately connecting more people to the children and families who need them most. 

Compassion in Action: More Than Just Awareness

National Foster Care Month is a call to action, a reminder that we all have a part to play in supporting foster children and families. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the weight of the challenges these families face, but the truth is, connection changes everything. Every act of kindness and every person who shows up makes a difference.

This month, we’re inviting you to meet one need in May — a simple, tangible way to take action and show up for children and families in your community. As we reflect on the significance of National Foster Care Month, let’s remember that these actions aren’t limited to just one month. The needs of foster families are year-round. So let’s make this moment count, and carry the spirit of compassion and care into every month, every day, and every moment.

Let’s ensure that every child, no matter their circumstances, has the opportunity to grow up in a safe and loving home. Together, we can make a difference that lasts far beyond May.