As a nonprofit leader, one of the cornerstones of the organization I led was collaboration. There is no question that we are stronger when we work together. Over my years of service, I established partnerships with local, state and national organizations, seeking to share resources and to maximize benefit to help people in need.
Connections were made possible through word of mouth, social media, and sometimes even more unusual occurrences. One such allegiance was formed across the country in Northern Virginia when my brother, Larry, told me about an organization based in Rockville, MD called Comfort Cases. Larry had attended a fundraising event and heard Rob Scheer, the founder, tell his story. Larry saw synergistic energies available and suggested that I reach out to Rob and open the door to a conversation.
My first phone chat with Rob cemented the fact that we were both in full alignment in service to children in foster care. Rob’s story touched me, as it does everyone who hears it. As a 12-year-old, entering his first foster home, Rob was given a black trash bag to transport his personal belongings. At 18, aging out of the system, he again packed up his limited worldly possessions into a trash bag. Becoming a foster parent 30 years later, the four children who were placed in his care each arrived with their trash bags. Rob founded Comfort Cases with hopes of doing away with the use of those trash bags.
According to the Comfort Cases website, “On any given day, there are approximately 437,500 children in foster care in the U.S.” As I have witnessed first-hand, many kids are removed from their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs, and as Rob will share, if they do have any personal belongings, they go into the trash bag to move them into their foster home. Something as simple as a case to transport their possessions can bring these children who have experienced abuse and neglect a sense of dignity, and a little bit of hope.
Rob has had an incredible impact in the lives of so many children. Over the past 8 years, more than 150,000 boys and girls throughout the United States, DC, Puerto Rico and now in the UK have received a Comfort Case. Each case is a duffel bag packed with toiletries and dental supplies for self-care and self-worth, a stuffed toy and blanket to soothe and comfort, and a book, journal or coloring book to calm the distressed feelings these children have experienced. Everything is geared around comforting boys and girls whose lives have been disrupted, and providing them with a small sense of normalcy.
I’ve had the privilege of chatting with Rob on multiple occasions, working with Comfort Cases to bring these products to Arizona, and also participating as a guest on Rob’s podcast, “Fostering Change,” in 2020. Rob’s sincerity and purpose inspire me. His personal journey from foster care to foster parent, and his drive to rebuild a broken system is shared in his book, “Fostering Change One Child at a Time.” It is an excellent chronicle of a life well spent, and very much worth the read.
Thanks, Rob, for all you do to improve the lives of children in foster care. Comfort Cases provide dignity and essentials to children in foster care. It is so important that no child in our country ever enters foster care with a black trash bag. They deserve so much more.
To learn about the work being done by Rob and to support the Comfort Cases team, visit www.comfortcases.org.
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