Jenae Holtzhafer and her husband, Brian, were applying to be foster parents when they realized they couldn’t manage, partly because of money. Instead of stepping back, Mrs. Holtzhafer channeled that realization into The Kindness Project: a support hub for foster families that has served more than 3,000 children in eastern Pennsylvania over the past seven years.
Launched from the Holtzhafers’ dining room, the nonprofit began by providing free car seats, toiletries, and clothing. Today, it offers babysitting for foster parents’ nights out and runs community-building events, an annual picnic, monthly support groups, and a 3,300-square-foot boutique stocked with items.
“It’s not just, ‘Come in and get things,’” Mrs. Holtzhafer says. “We want families to feel connected, that they have that support behind them so they can keep doing this.”
Why We Wrote This
For foster families seeking essentials for their children, funding cuts that affect services can cause a strain. Amid high rates of turnover among foster families, a support hub fills a critical gap in eastern Pennsylvania.
Based in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, The Kindness Project is part of a patchwork of volunteer-run closets. These grassroots groups help children – often arriving from their birth homes with only what they are wearing – and the foster parents who take them in. Nationally, the annual turnover rate for foster parents is 30% to 50%, largely due to lack of support, advocates say.
The Kindness Project’s curated shop, known as The Kindness Exchange, provides each new foster child with a week’s wardrobe, toiletries, and whatever they may need – be it a bed, backpack, diapers, or wipes. It has a birthday room, offers seasonal items such as Halloween costumes, accommodates back-to-school shopping trips, and fulfills holiday wish lists. It has distributed more than $5 million in goods since 2020, working with 44 foster care agencies in more than 35 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Liz Reiter-Cook, who has fostered 20 children, says her county’s $150 clothing reimbursement doesn’t go far.
“Before The Kindness Project, good luck,” she says. Her children swim competitively, thanks to free lessons through the group. “The cost to get a kid into regular kid activities is huge and insane,” she adds. “I’d never have been able to afford that.”
Foster stipends vary by location and depend on how much medical or other care a child needs. In this area of eastern Pennsylvania north of Philadelphia, foster families receive about $26 to $35 daily per child to cover food, clothing, toiletries, and transportation, according to Joyce Riche, former director of permanency services at Diakon Adoption & Foster Care and now a Kindness Project board member. Studies estimate that raising a child in the United States costs $48 to $80 per day.
Child welfare experts say that while volunteer-run closets fill a critical gap for foster children, they would be unnecessary with adequate government funding.
“We are not a society that cares enough about children,” says Mary Elizabeth Collins, a professor at Boston University’s School of Social Work. “There should be much more money going into these systems.”
Angie Gillen, education and outreach director at The Salvation Army Children’s Services in Allentown, says Mrs. Holtzhafer has revolutionized local foster support. “Jenae worked so hard to make sure that the store was charming,” Ms. Gillen notes. “She made sure it didn’t smell like a thrift store. … Every single bit of it was intentional.”
Ms. Gillen recalls a family who initially agreed to foster one to two children – but ultimately accepted five siblings because they knew The Kindness Project would provide essentials and a sense of community. “I truly believe it’s one of the things that keeps people fostering,” Ms. Gillen says.
Rene Medina has fostered six children, accepting some with less than two hours’ notice. She says The Kindness Project is a lifesaver in last-minute provisioning.
“In a perfect world, you would get support from your family and the case worker, but that’s not always happening,” Ms. Medina explains. “I think that The Kindness Project allows for that buffer.”
Mrs. Holtzhafer says that being plucked from their homes can leave foster children feeling disconnected. The Kindness Project wants to make them feel seen and heard.
Ann Mahlmann, one of 120 volunteers, says that beyond material aid, the organization emphasizes dignity and choice. Children can shop for themselves instead of accepting hand-me-downs or items that someone else has selected. “They say, ‘We can get this for free? … Is that really mine? I can take this?’” she says.
Ms. Riche says reimbursement for what foster parents have bought can take up to six weeks as they juggle therapy and emergency medical visits.
Equipping a foster child with bedding, clothing, and age-appropriate necessities can run $1,900 for a teenager to $2,800 for a baby, according to The Kindness Project. When warehouse worker Joshua Rosado welcomed his infant foster daughter a year ago, the baby came with a car seat and two grocery bags of belongings. He says The Kindness Project saved him at least $800 – half a month’s salary – on a stroller, clothing, stuffed animals, soap, and a high chair.
“Saving that much money is huge,” he says.
Operating on an annual budget of $250,000, The Kindness Project relies on individual donors, local corporate sponsors, nationwide grants, and community fundraisers, such as twice-yearly yard sales and a mini-golf tournament. A church congregation bought 542 pairs of back-to-school shoes; a kitchen design store makes toddler beds; bakeries furnish birthday cakes; local businesses donate extracurricular classes and tickets to sporting events. Starbucks contributes overstock merchandise. Mexican restaurant Cactus Blue provides take-home family meals when a foster child arrives. Volunteers handle yard work around the cottage-like property.
Mrs. Holtzhafer runs every aspect of the operation – fundraising, marketing, social media, stocking shelves, organizing volunteers, community outreach, grant writing, and even making deliveries. She partnered with Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital to launch the Kindness Express van to reach far-flung families. She’s also raising money for an on-site playground.
Mrs. Holtzhafer fears that federal cutbacks, rising costs, and unemployment will strain donors and foster parents. Before the recent government shutdown started, two foster families asked her for food.
“You see these kids and their potential,” Mrs. Holtzhafer says, “and you want to be the person who gives them a future.”
