Dahlia and her two older siblings were the first children adopted into a Project 1.27 family. On her adoption date in November 2005, Dahlia was six years old. Now a young adult, Dahlia wants to use her story to encourage other kids in foster care as well as inspire churches and families to get involved. ![]() Tell us a little of your story. My two older siblings and I were placed in foster care when I was about 18 months. When I was six, we were adopted by a Project 1.27 family who already had two kids. As you might imagine, there were some struggles combining all us kids into one family, and during my teen years, things fell apart for awhile. But now, I’ve found a new kind of love for my parents and all my siblings. We get through the tough things as one family. What are you up to these days? I’m working at a law firm doing collections and coding. I’m working on a Personal Trainer Certificate and work out every day. I love to go on adventures, like open mic night at downtown restaurants and hanging out with my sister and girlfriends. Why do you want to share your story? I used to be so afraid of my story. I’d get upset when other people knew it. Now I want to share my story. I think it’s a little cooler than everyone else’s - a blessing in disguise. My story makes me who I am and provides a starting place for who I want to be. I don’t want to be just a statistic. I want other kids in foster care to hear my story and know they can get through that successfully – mind, body, soul. I want little girls to look at me and say, “Whoa! She did it and I can, too!” I volunteer at a school and am thrilled I can be someone little girls can look up to. Being in foster care, being adopted, it can be tough. What are your 2018 New Year’s Resolutions? By the end of 2018 I want to start two small businesses, one as a personal trainer and the other as a health and wellness consultant. I want to celebrate my one-year anniversary at the law firm. Another goal is to rent to own a condo. And, go vegan! The biggest thing I’ve been learning is we don’t know our full potential unless we push ourselves. My goals have that purpose. What are some New Year’s Resolutions you hope others will make? For foster and adoptive families –
Because caring for vulnerable kids is in the Bible and we’re supposed to follow the Bible; to come together as a community and take care of children in need. If we don’t do this, we’re disobeying. Jesus loves little kids and we need to love like Jesus. Love kids. How can we be praying for you and your family in 2018? My biggest prayer is for everyone’s happiness and health. Please pray that my parents have a relaxing year. They are currently fostering five kids and could use it! Pray for protection over the kids they are currently fostering and my entire family. For me personally, pray I will grow in my relationship with God and that I won’t be distracted from reaching my goals. Thanks for praying for us! (end of interview) Jump in! Pray about ways you can love on kids and families in foster care. As Dahlia is learning, we don’t know our full potential until we push ourselves. Start by attending an info night. Register today >
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When we begin the new year, we hope to make improvements and strides forward in the months to come. In the areas where we have seen challenges, we hope to grow. As evidence demonstrates, Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) has brought about lasting and healing results for kids who’ve experienced trauma. In 2018, Project 1.27 will be offering caregiver training in this intervention to help encourage parents that they are not alone in their struggles, AND there is hope in building connection with children from hard places.
The Empowering Principle in TBRI attends to helping children experience felt safety by meeting physiological and environmental needs. We’ve all heard about eating frequent nutritious snacks and drinking plenty of water, but did you know that ensuring such a diet can reduce aggressive behaviors and emotional meltdowns? In addition to highlighting the importance of diet, the Empowering Principle also addresses the crucial roles of physical and sensory activities. Many children who’ve experienced abuse or neglect struggle with registering sensory information. Practicing different physical and sensory activities with children facilitates healing while also developing your relationship. There is a wealth of interesting and practical information about how to care for kids who’ve experienced trauma. But you don’t have to take our word for it!
On December 11, Thrivent Financial sponsored the 2nd Annual Project 1.27 Family Christmas Party! Volunteers from Mississippi Avenue Baptist Church welcomed families while Project 1.27 staff enjoyed crafting, games and pizza with some really cute kids and their parents.
Another year has ended and another year begins bringing with it resolutions to be healthier, learn new hobbies and spend more time with family and friends. But in the standard list of resolutions there’s always one thing missing, a resolution to be better at caring for those in need. We know not everyone is called to be a foster or adoptive parent, but everyone is called to do something. Here are 3 ways you can resolve to care for kids from foster care in the New Year: Give Time
There’s a saying that every child at risk is one caring adult away from being a success. That caring adult may be you, and no you don’t have to be a foster parent. We found a short list of ways you can get involved and spend time with kids. If there are foster or adoptive families in your life, talk to them about what they may need and step in to serve them. CASA The goal is for every kid in foster care to have a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) on their team. This volunteer position functions as a mentor who is trained to advocate for the child’s best interests in a court setting. Learn More >> The Adoption Exchange This program is targeted to kids 12 to 18 who are in foster care. The Adoption Exchange provides a structured process so you can build a permanent relationship overtime to help improve the outcome for a child. Learn More >> Royal Family Kids Camp These camps are hosted by churches all over the county, with several in Colorado. Find a church near you who hosts a camp and be a part of giving a child from foster care a week of childhood. Learn More >> Give Support Every family who choose to bring in a child through foster or adoption will need support. Talk to your church to see if there are families within your congregation who need help. Or if you know a family see what you can do to help them. It may be as simple as making weekly meals! Give Financially There are countless organizations doing amazing work in Colorado to recruit, equip, train and support foster and adoptive families. Find an organization that speaks to your heart and commit to supporting them financially. Here are a few ideas: Project 1.27 We are a non-profit with a goal to recruit and train foster and adoptive families by partnering with the church. We need $3000 for each family. Your support helps give a kid a home! Dream Makers An offshoot of Adopt Colorado Kids, Dream Makers provides financially for kids who have aged out of foster care and are working their way through adulthood. Consider sponsoring a dream or donating regularly. CASA As discussed above, CASA helps pair children with advocates so they have a voice. By donating to CASA you help to recruit and train these volunteers so every child feels cared for. These are just a few simple ideas to help you find a way to get involved, but the opportunities are endless! The holidays bring a season of gratitude. While being thankful for foster care isn’t always easy, being a part of this system brings so much goodness into our lives and it’s important to practice being grateful for it’s gifts.
James 1:2-3 reminds us to “count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” It can be hard when you’re in the thick of it to practice gratitude, so take this season as a time to be intentional and thankful. Here are 5 reasons to be grateful for foster care: Healing Foster care allows for healing for many people. The first goal of foster care is reunification for parents and kids which requires healing. Parents need space and resources to heal and learn. Kids need space to heal from the trauma or hurt they may have experienced. Foster care can even help to heal foster parents. It’s hard to understand what baggage you carry until you’re confronted with a trigger. Once you can see and understand triggers, you too can begin to heal. As we are immersed in the holiday season, let’s give thanks for the healing that can happen through foster care. During the holiday season, we often assume that children are excited and love Christmas. Though this is often true, some foster and adopted children grieve past holiday memories with their biological families become closed off or angry foster and adopted children may have strong emotional ties to past memories of Christmas as well as confusion about what to expect this year.
Once school is out, a change in routine and schedule can also add extra stress on children. Emotions may be driven by fear and anxiety, presenting hyperactive behavior, mood swings, frequent melt-downs, clinginess or oppositional behavior. When this happens foster and adoptive families need their support team to spring into action. Plus, you get to help create new holiday memories! When life is a struggle, Believers want and NEED church. We desire fellowship with others, corporate worship, and being led through Scripture for a nugget of God’s peace that passes all understanding. Unfortunately for many foster and adoptive parents, the idea of going to church may also bring up feelings of anxiety.
There’s a widespread misunderstanding that kids in care are ‘bad kids’ who act out. While many kids from foster care have challenges with attachment and trust and other emotional disabilities, at their heart they are kids who don’t always know how to receive the love they desperately need. This misconception that kids in foster care are “bad kids” is what spurred us to select the theme for this year’s fundraiser… “Hidden Gems.”
We believe that hidden inside every child are beautiful gems - talents, character traits, unique abilities, passions - just waiting to be uncovered and polished by caring adults. Behind many bad behaviors lives a kid who is craving love. One important thing to keep in mind is that each and every behavior has a purpose and a function, they are an external expression of an internal emotion. Kids who’ve experienced trauma often have big emotions they don’t know how to express, which leads them to act them out. In the month of October we see neighbors front yards turn into graveyards, spider webs covering trees, and skeletons hanging from racks in the grocery store. Generally, this isn’t unsettling for us and despite the decorations, we feel safe. The understanding we have of feeling safe in our surroundings is called “felt safety”.
Kids who have experienced trauma may not feel safe, even in the comforts of a loving foster home. We KNOW that they’re safe. They have food, water, a bed, and hopefully a community of nurturing people coming around them to provide for their needs. However, because of what they have experienced, their brain development is often stuck with their fear center (the amygdala) being consistently activated, without a higher level of cognitive processing. Without the slower and more deliberate processing of higher parts of the brain (the prefrontal cortex), the stress hormone cortisol is released and the fight, flight, or freeze response is triggered. Regardless of the safety that we believe we’re providing for these kids, they don’t feel safe. This month Project 1.27 celebrates Rhonda Miescke’s 10th Anniversary working at Project 1.27. As part of the celebration, Project 1.27 thought it would be fun to learn more about Rhonda and her take on Project 1.27.
Rhonda...
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