December 2021

CMFCAA Needs Your Help with this Year's CoMoGives Campaign!

In the last year, CMFCAA was able to provide over 3,000 individuals with the resources, education, and support they needed to thrive, whether that be a child entering foster care in need of clothes, toys, or toiletries; a family in need of training to become a foster or adoptive family; or a youth aging out of foster care who needed assistance with housing, employment, or basic necessities – we were there for them. We provided hundreds of Begin Again Backpacks and Care Packs to children in Foster Care, adoptive homes, and kinship placements, making the challenging year of isolation and fear a little more manageable with fun games, activities, and a little something for each child to call their own. CMFCAA works tirelessly to provide services to train and recruit safe, stable foster homes. We provide support systems to youth aging out and provide, training, advocacy, services and resources to families who have opened their home and their hearts to abused and neglected kids. Your gift can help us as we continue to serve central Missouri!

Donate Today!

MFA Oil Donates nearly $14,000 to help the Children!

Each year, MFA Oil holds a "Week of Giving" and this year, CMFCAA was chosen as one of their many worthwhile charities! CMFCAA was blessed with $13,795! This is the fourth year CMFCAA has been part of this amazing community program!

Over the course of the next 12 months, the gift will be divided into monthly installments. WOW!! THANK YOU MFA, and all the employees who made this possible. We are so grateful! We were able to bring back the first installment plus two individual gifts with a total of $750.00!! All for the kids

CMFCAA's Board Chair is Presented with Lt. Governor's Senior Service Award!

Jefferson City News Tribune had this to say about the award presentation event: "Even after winning a statewide award recognizing her dedication to the Jefferson City community, Carol Fischer couldn't stop talking about the team surrounding her. Fischer serves as the president of the board of directors for Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association, a nonprofit agency that provides a wide range of services for foster care and adoptive children and families in Mid-Missouri. At a surprise ceremony Tuesday morning, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, joined by state Rep. Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, and state Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, presented Fischer with the Lieutenant Governor's Senior Service Award... READ MORE

Pivoney, Ryan. "Jefferson City woman earns recognition for community service" newstribune.com, Jefferson City News Tribune, 30 November 2021. Accessed 2 December 2021.

Volunteer Program

Thank You!

CMFCAA wants to send out a huge thank you to our amazing volunteers! We are incredibly proud of the community of volunteers who have sacrificed their time to serve with us this year. Your help makes what we do possible! From volunteering at Odyssey events with the kids to sorting and organizing clothes at the Clothing Closet, every little bit helps.

More volunteer opportunities are coming up soon so click the link below to see how you can help today!

Learn More!

Winter Clothes are at the Trunk Clothing Closet

The Trunk Clothing Closet has winter coats, winter-wear, and fall clothing are in stock now! Go get what you need before the winter settles in. Open hours will be posted on CMFCAA's Facebook page so keep a look out! The Direct Services team has been working diligently to wash, organize, and stock clothing donations at the Trunk Clothing Closet so it will be ready for our foster, adoptive, and kinship families to get what they need. If you have any questions regarding the Trunk, please contact Christal Jones at christal@mofosteradopt.com.

Also, if you would like to help our staff in the clothing closet with organization and setup, please consider volunteering! We rely on our faithful volunteers to help us manage the process at our clothing closet.

The Trunk Clothing Closet address: 2701 W. Main St., Jefferson City, MO 65109

Would you, or someone you know, like to join the CMFCAA Team or become an AmeriCorps VISTA with us?

Join Our Team!

Thanksgiving Care Packs and Odyssey Events kept Direct Services Busy this Month!

Last month was full of fun events and trips for our kids! There were Odyssey Events at Capital City Kids, the Arc in Columbia and Jolly Mon at Margaritaville! It was a full house at our final Jolly Mon Odyssey of the year! The children played games, ate lots of pizza, and swam for hours. They loved the waterslide! We had some amazing volunteers that played games with the kids and spent time in the pool, going down the slides, and playing basketball with the sports lovers.

November was also the time for Thanksgiving Care Packs! We are so thankful that we have the support of kindhearted people in the community to help us provide a turkey and non-perishable side dishes to our families. We want to thank Faithbridge Church, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, and the Church at Osage Hills for donating food for our care packs. We also need to thank Price Cutter, Glen and Teresa Backes, Cargill, Mark Jones, Steve Raithel and Prairie Farms Dairy for donating turkeys and dairy products!

The conference room was full of food while direct services worked to put together hundreds of thanksgiving care packs!

Prairie Farms let us store turkeys and milk in their truck after over 100 gallons of milk were donated to us!

Family Development Department

CMFCAA's Family Development Department remains committed to serving our families by offering training and support to loving families who are working toward becoming a foster or adoptive family to foster children. Read a delightful testimonial about one of FD's trainings below!

Family Testimonial:

"I would like to take a few minutes and say how much I enjoyed the YEN Training that was provided and taught by Family Development Trainer, Sam Green. She did an excellent job providing the information, and an even better job giving us examples of how to use the tools and techniques to help us grow and improve as foster parents! I personally have been involved with foster care for 20+ years and walked away from this training feeling I had learned something new and very useful.  Sam was easy to interact with, made everyone feel great about being in the training, and gave me the feeling that she truly wanted to help us as foster parents. I look forward to any additional training she may provide in the future!" ~M. Nichols

What is CCYP®?

Community Connections Youth Project®

As we come closer to the end of the year, let's remember the importance of hope in the lives of our youth. Below is a beautiful story from last winter that shows the wonder of hope and grace. Our young people need support and strong advocates who will not give up on them. That is exactly what our CCYP® team is committed to providing for every youth.

"In December of 2020, Z. was seventeen-years-old, pregnant, and homeless. When she was referred to CCYP®, she was living in a temporary hotel and had nowhere else to go. The CCYP® team worked diligently to find a stable place for Z., but were faced with challenges ... READ MORE.

Bunk Beds and Building!

This November, Kinship Navigator provided bunk beds to a family in Columbia through its partnership with Sleep In Heavenly Peace. Read the story below!

"D. Brown is currently caring for 6 foster children ranging in age from 4 to 20. When we received the referral, the family had been told by their landlord that they would need to relocate because he was planning to sell the property. D. and her husband were able to save enough money to secure a home loan and relocate to a beautiful house big enough for all of the children in their care. D. reached out again inquiring about assistance with beds and bedding because some of the children’s beds had broken during the move. Kinship Navigator contacted Artie Dautenhahn with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and was able to pick up a set of bunk beds for two of the young adults! Kinship Navigator, Kristin, and Kinship Navigator Supervisor, Crystal, met with the family and helped build the bunk beds, providing a safe and comfortable place for the kids to rest their heads each night."

Learn More

30 Days to Family®

On November 8^th 2021, CMFCAA hosted the 2021 Journey Home Bus Tour. The Rolla Office hosted and the 30 Days to Family team was delighted to see that it ended up being a very well attended event! It brought together community members, legislators. and local organizations. The simulated event was very well received and there have been numerous requests to replicate this in several other communities.

Aside from hosting this incredible event, 30 Days to Family® remains committed to finding safe and loving homes for children and youth every day. The team takes on a large number of cases every month and works hard to find a family for each child.