Foster Love Project
Love is an action.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Over 1,500 children in Allegheny County are in foster care. We aim to make their transition from their first home to their foster home as smooth as possible as well as supporting them during their time in foster care with the hopes for reunification as often as possible.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Free Shopping Center
We operate a free shopping center for kids in foster or kinship care to come shop, free of judgement, full of love and compassion and focused around the child's well being. The Center provides items such as new and gently used clothing, accessories and shoes, baby items such as car seats, strollers, cribs, diapers and formula, toys and games for all ages, as well as hygiene kids and specialty hair care products.
Annual Family Retreat
Our Annual Retreat started in 2019 as a way for kids who experience foster care or adoption to have the opportunity to build relationships with other kids who experience similar life
circumstances and to bring foster/adoptive families together to connect with each other. After our first family retreat, registration for the next retreat filled in 22 minutes!
In 2020 & 2021, we had to shift to a virtual retreat due to covid safety precautions.
In 2022, we were able to bring back the family in retreat in person at Laurelville Retreat Center. We have received so much positive feedback from the families on the benefits of having a safe place for their family to come and how much this weekend of respite was a needed support to their family.
Each retreat we prioritize the voices of former foster youth and adult adoptees and provide intentional workshops to families to continue to learn how to best support kids who face similar situations.
Excellent Hair Care
Foster children experience trauma in many ways and one way that Foster Love Project supports their healing is with the Excellent Hair Care program. It is specifically designed for Black and Brown children in foster care because our experience shows that when placed within white foster families, their hair care is often overlooked. We work closely with multiple Black-owned businesses who educate foster parents on the essential care needed for their foster children. Textured hair requires specific products and treatment - this program provides the education alongside the products for Black and Brown children to have the proper care for their hair. We host educational hair care workshops, gift certificates for salon and barber shop visits and a variety of products and resources to ensure that kids receive excellent hair and skin care.
Essentials Bag Drive
Every year, since our inception we have hosted a bag drive to provide foster children with their very own backpack of items that will help them feel loved and welcome in their new home. Foster children are often taken to an unfamiliar place with little to no time to plan, they must leave their belongings behind and there is trauma in this stage of their lives, that is eased a tiny bit by having a bag of carefully chose items that are age specific and brand new. Each bag includes an outfit, blanket, stuffed animal, socks, toothbrush/toothpaste, soap, bath pouf and a book. Each bag costs $75 in total and we serve over 2,000 children each year.
Back To School
Each August we hold our annual Back 2 School event. Kids who are impacted by foster care and adoption are able to pre-register for the family-friendly event which includes food, games, face painting + more. At the event, each child gets to pick a new backpack, school supplies, a new hoodie and most exciting - new, brand-name shoes for the upcoming school year! Kids can often experience bullying at not having the "right" brand of shoes. We want to help remove barriers to bullying and ensure that kids can go back to school with dignity.
Teen Mentoring Program
The Teen Connections Program has been developed to create a safe space for foster and adoptive teens to talk about unique challenges they face and make connections with teens who experience similar challenges and feelings. This includes topics covering everything from trans-racial families, mixed and conflicted feelings about having two families, sense of belonging and traumatic backgrounds. They will also have an opportunity to connect with adults adoptees or adults who experienced the foster care system as a youth. The teens meet monthly and have opportunities for fun activities, good food and discussion of a variety of topics designed to help them explore and communicate about their experience and emotions.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Philanthropy Award 2018
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of foster youth served in the Donation Center
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Free Shopping Center
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Foster children can shop up to 4 times a year and each trip results in them leaving the Center with items of an average value of $150.
Number of foster youth served with transition bags
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Essentials Bag Drive
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Transition bags ease the stress, anxiety and trauma of the first night a child is away from their home and often provides needed items for the first week.
Number of foster youth served with Foster Love Project programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Foster children benefit from the Foster Love Project programming via our donation center, transition bags, Annual Retreat, Angel Tree gifts, Tickets for Kids, and more.
Number of foster youth served living in Allegheny County
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Free Shopping Center
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Allegheny County has approximately 1,500 children in foster youth in any given year. Foster Love Project tracks our shoppers foster home zip codes for grant writing purposes.
Number of children who receive new clothing
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of backpacks filled with school supplies distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our Mission: Foster Love Project shows love in action to children impacted by foster and kinship care through the provision of goods, services and support.
Our Vision: All children, no matter their family composition, will be treated with dignity and self-worth so they are empowered to thrive.
Our Strategic Destination: Foster Love Project's goal is to be a leading, impactful organization offering free resources and comprehensive programs and services to children and families impacted by the child welfare system so that they retain dignity and thrive. Foster Love Project is known for its unique role as a crucial and influential partner within the foster care system because of the child-centered, holistic resources and expertise it provides.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategies are to provide goods, services and support to all foster children who are in need.
We provide an essentials bag for the child's initial stay in foster care followed by free shopping trips to our Center throughout the year. We support families at the very stressful back to school time, we host an annual retreat for families to come together to connect and support one another, we provide hygiene and hair care products, we provide a Teen Connections program for support to teens who experience foster care and adoption and we provide holiday gifts during the month of December.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our Center is the hub for all of our strategies to come to fruition. Growing requests for our services has allowed us to expand to a staff of 7. We also rely heavily on wonderful volunteers to maintain the Center as well as support all programs and events. Donations and grant funding are continually being sought and we have an active board supporting our staff.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2014, we started as a one time bag drive with a goal of collecting 300 bags of essentials. After collecting 1,300 bags that first year, we have now collected and distributed more than 14,000 FLP bags in 4 states. Our free shopping Center started with an all-volunteer team in 2017. In 2022, we are now a staff team of 7 who are supporting 7 programs throughout the year. The request for our goods, services and support continues to grow and we continue to focus on providing love and dignity to every person who crosses our path.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Foster Love Project
Board of directorsas of 07/22/2022
Summer Dean
FOSTER LOVE PROJECT
Term: 2023 - 2019
Summer Dean
Advancement Advisors
Jordan Shoenberger
Jeremiah's Place, A Crisis Relief Nursery
Ja-Neen Jones
Three Rivers Adoption Council
Emily Thornton
Co-Director, Sonshine Quality Childcare
Bruce Thornton
Director, Don’t Worry Childcare
Jeff Alex
Senior Assoiciate Counsel, UPMC
Valerie Rose
Coldwell Banker Realty
Kristen Moss
Maher Duessel, CPA
Kelly Hughes
Foster Love Project
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/22/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.