A local Albany pastor has taken a major step toward helping foster kids in the Albany Area. More often than not, foster children wear hand-me-down clothing from previous children in their foster home. When moving from placement to placement, foster kids often have to leave most of their clothes behind, as they belong to the home, not the child. The few personal belongings foster children do have are typically transported in garbage bags.

Our Store

On Tuesday, July 13th the Albany location opened its doors, stocked with clothing, shoes, bedding, and luggage.

The store, named ‘Our Store’ gives foster children the opportunity to go shopping and ‘buy’ possessions of their own. This is a major confidence booster for children who have very little belongings of their own and have little say over the style of clothing they wear, as clothes are usually hand-me-downs and come from the foster home.

Our Store donations and funding come from the Albany Victory Church community. The Pastor in charge stated that his motivation to open the store came from always wearing hand-me-down clothing as a child, wants foster children to feel important, and believes new clothing is one way to achieve that.

Shopping Spree for Foster Kids

Every child deserves to feel special, and sometimes foster children need a little extra TLC. Many people have fond memories of going back to school shopping with their parents, picking out clothes and supplies for the year, and expressing themselves through their style.

Many foster parents are on a tight budget, especially as they are caring for multiple additional children in need. Because of this, not all foster parents are able to give their foster youth that experience. This is where Our Store comes in, at the store children are able to pick out essentials free of cost and go home with clothes and supplies to call their own.

Pitching In

Thank you to everyone who made Our Store possible. If you’d like to make a similar impact, you can donate to the Foster Love - Together We Rise Sweet Case program, which provides foster youth with duffle bags to transport their items.