Fostering Community

In 2020, PCHAS launched The Foster Care Village in Itasca, Texas. The first of its kind in the state, The Foster Care Village is the next chapter in how we ensure kids are safe and feel loved on our historic campus in Itasca.

Located 50 miles south of Fort Worth, The Foster Care Village offers six large homes for families to foster alongside each other. Case managers, program leadership, Village Life and education staff office within the community. Overnight relief care is provided by a family who is well-known and loved by all. Village families also have access to amenities reserved specifically for residents, including a swimming pool, playground, gym with fitness center and much more.

When a family moves to The Foster Care Village, they agree to parent five to six children at a time, including up to two biological and/or adopted children. PCHAS waives the rent and utilities for fostering families and provides a generous reimbursement to offset the cost of caring for kids.

“Transitioning the campus from a group home model to The Foster Care Village wasn’t easy,” Charlene Jackson, Program Director for The Foster Care Village shares, “but the community that has grown among the fostering families is more than we could have asked for.”

This progression brought Foster Care and Adoption services to Itasca in the form of The Foster Care Village and it also allowed PCHAS to begin verifying families to foster and adopt in and around Itasca and expanding our reach south of the DFW Metroplex all the way to Waco.

The care and encouragement our families living at The Village and in the community have shown for one another has been even greater than we could have expected. Jessica Porter, a PCHAS Foster Care & Adoption Case Manager in Itasca, sees her families who live at The Village frequently. In December, Jessica was talking with two families at The Village and casually mentioned one of her community foster families would be receiving a new child. She was surprised when she saw them next and they had purchased a few special things for her to take to the family, whom they had never even met.

And it doesn’t stop there! While our goal is for siblings to live together, there are times when it’s just not possible. This spring, a family at The Foster Care Village has been caring for children who have siblings placed with a PCHAS foster family in the Waco area. To help the children maintain their bond with one another, the foster families are working together and planning regular visits at The Village so the children can play and spend time together.

“It’s little things like a family bringing a wagon full of snacks to a new family moving into their home as a housewarming gift or families organizing a bar-b-que and potluck that show the love these families have for one another,” Jackson says. “These families are committed to fostering and making sure that the kids are safe and feel loved, and they are so grateful for the community they’ve found at The Village. Their neighbors understand the unique things they walk through every day and they offer a special kind of support that can be very hard to find.”

We’re always eager to meet mature, committed couples that like the idea of having a big home and raising a bunch of kids. To foster at The Village you need to be financially stable, connected to your faith, and able to relocate. If you’re ready to live out your calling with the community you need, Sign Up for a Virtual Tour or call 940-557-5511.