US quilters come to the aid of children in foster care.
In yet another example of crafters helping out those around them who are in need, quilters in Kansas are working on a special Christmas project to provide quilts for children in foster care and for those awaiting adoption. The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) South Central Region and Saint Francis Community Services are behind this wonderful yuletide quilt drive.
Cyrilla Petracek is the SRS Regional Director. She says that, by providing quilts to these children “we are able to demonstrate that there are people who care and want to help”. Quilt makers, community organisations, churches, senior groups and other interested parties have all been invited to help with the sewing.
Like many modern cities, the number of children in foster care in Kansas at any one time fluctuates but, as of middle of this year, there were just over 7,000 children either in care or awaiting adoption. While this is the first year that the South Central SRS Region is participating in this drive, colleagues and quilters in the Department’s West SRS Region have been quilting for Christmas for the past five years.
While a large network of volunteers and professionals will collaborate to make this drive a success, the distribution of the quilts retains a personal, unobtrusive nature. “The quilts are given to our contracted providers for foster care and adoption and they give the quilts to the children. Quilts are never wrapped so that the social workers involved can pick similar quilts for sibling groups
- or particular quilts for children with special needs,” explains Elaine Miller from the SRS.
According to Elaine, the response to this Christmas Quilt Project has been nothing short of amazing. “We have quilting guilds, church sewing circles, individuals, quilt shops, employees... the local press has been good about providing space for public service announcements. One interesting resource we have is that inmates in a Kansas Correctional Facility in Hutchinson, Kansas, expressed interest and are making quilts for our project. We just supply the fabric.“
For this, its first year involved in the project, SRS South Central hopes to collect between 600 and 800 quilts. “This is the average number of children for our region at any given time,” explains Elaine. “The West Region, in their first year, collected about 200 quilts. The project was originally the brainchild of a woman called Ruth Stice who only recently commented to me that, never in her in her deepest dreams, did she think this project would grow this big. She thinks it’s due to the generous, caring people in the State of Kansas... Last year Ruth’s region received 1200 and these included some Afghans and polyester quilts too. The amount exceeded the number of children in actual out-of-home placements so quilts were provided to children in homes served by Family Preservation Contractor, Head Start Programs, Youthville (adjudicated juvenile offenders) and some homeless shelters.”
The over-arching message of this quilt project is that the children involved feel there are people out there aware of their plight and concerned for their welfare. And, as Elaine puts it, these quilts “are something special provided to that child, something that lasts beyond the stay in foster care”
The other important thing here, according to Elaine, is the sense of community involvement that is achieved for those who make and donate the quilts. “One tiny group of five elderly women in far SW Kansas (Rolla) work together to provide 60 quilts a year,” she says. “In another instance... perhaps an allegory... a group of women, each with a disability, combines their talents. One lady marks the squares; one lady cuts the squares and then passes them to the lady who pieces the squares. Then there is a lady who sews or quilts the finished project. So, in other words, this creates a wonderful sense of community. It’s a fun project, especially for church groups.”
Please Login or Sign up to share, vote, favourite or comment.
