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Freddie Mac Foundation

Foundation Joins Mayor in Proclaiming Foster Care Month in the District of Columbia

CFSA Interim Director Uma Ahluwalia reads Mayor Williams' proclamation declaring Foster Care Month in the District of Columbia.
CFSA Interim Director Uma Ahluwalia reads Mayor Williams' proclamation declaring Foster Care Month in the District of Columbia.

The Freddie Mac Foundation joined DC officials, foster parents and social workers to honor the work done by foster parents and proclaim May Foster Care Month.  On behalf of Mayor Anthony A. Williams, Child and Family Services Agency Interim Director Uma Ahluwalia proclaimed Foster Care Month in the District of Columbia (to coincide with the national celebration) and honored the city's foster parents May 4 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C. She also accepted a $100,000 grant from the Freddie Mac Foundation that will allow the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency to recruit, train, and support more foster parents.

"The Freddie Mac Foundation is committed to improving the lives of foster children and youth, and one key way to do this is by supporting and appreciating the work done by their foster parents," said Maxine B. Baker, president and CEO of the Freddie Mac Foundation. "It is our hope that this grant will serve the city well to support those parents already doing wonderful work and to find more loving, nurturing foster homes for our children in need."

"We rely on foster parents to provide safe, temporary havens for children who can't be safe at home. They're essential partners in public child protection," Ahluwalia said. "We value every one of our trained, licensed foster parents, and we need more District residents to open their hearts and homes to children through fostering."

Some of DC's most active foster child advocates with the Foundation's $100,000 contribution for CFSA foster care programs. From left to right: Foundation President and CEO Maxine B. Baker, CFSA Interim Director Uma Ahluwalia, foster and soon-to-be adoptive parent Benadette Graham, Foundation Foster Care Programs Manager Renette Oklewicz, Foundation Director of Giving Cheryl Clarke, and CFSA Deputy Director Sandra Jackson.
Some of DC's most active foster child advocates with the Foundation's $100,000 contribution for CFSA foster care programs. From left to right: Foundation President and CEO Maxine B. Baker, CFSA Interim Director Uma Ahluwalia, foster and soon-to-be adoptive parent Benadette Graham, Foundation Foster Care Programs Manager Renette Oklewicz, Foundation Director of Giving Cheryl Clarke, and CFSA Deputy Director Sandra Jackson.

The District currently has 2,456 children in out-of-home care, of which 1,854 (75%) are in family foster homes or kinship homes. CFSA is seeking to recruit more family foster homes in the District with the goal of protecting more foster children without taking them away from their neighborhood, school, and friends. This means targeting recruitment in Wards 5, 6, 7, and 8, the home neighborhoods for the majority of District foster children. At the same time, CFSA urgently needs foster parents anywhere in the District to open their homes to:

  • Brothers and sisters of all ages who want to stay together.
  • Male and female teens, including teen mothers and their babies.
  • Children of all ages with medical issues suitable for home care.
  • Children and teens in emergencies, especially at night and on weekends and holidays.

Backdrop for the event was the Freddie Mac Foundation's Heart Gallery, an exhibit of professional photographs of more than 50 local foster children in need of adoption. The Freddie Mac Foundation worked with 40 local photographers and photojournalists to assemble the exhibit, which has been touring public venues since November 2005. The Heart Gallery will be at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library through May 31. District residents interested in becoming foster parents — and anyone interested in adopting — should call 202-671-LOVE (202-671-5683).