Everything You Need to Know About Weekend Miracles
By Sophia Han
At Kidsave, our core mission is to find forever families for older kids in foster care. To do this, we have two programs – Summer/Winter Miracles and Weekend Miracles. While Summer/Winter Miracles is an international program that helps older kids in foster care in Colombia, Weekend Miracles is a domestic program that helps older kids in foster care in Los Angeles and Houston. There are three ways to get involved with Weekend Miracles: mentoring, hosting, and volunteering.
If you are interested in Summer/Winter Miracles, check out this article.
Mentoring
Some kids who are in the foster care system are not open to or available to be adopted. Regardless, these kids still need a caring adult in their lives.
Research indicates that without a consistent, caring parent figure, children cannot grow to their full potential – and instead can experience severe social, emotional, psychological and cognitive delays.
As adults, they are less likely to complete school and become more susceptible to homelessness, getting involved in crime, and having children at a young age. Due to their lack of parental care and skills, their offspring frequently suffer the same detrimental cycle.
By connecting a child with a caring mentor to serve as a positive role model and supporter, we are helping to break this cycle.
If you decide to become a mentor for Weekend Miracles, you can spend time with a child through one of our fun and interactive Meet the Kids events to help them build connections with positive role models like you. Best of all, our program gives the kids a voice and a choice in who they spend time with and get to know, helping create a more organic and meaningful connection. In some instances, once a child has developed a positive relationship with a caring mentor, they become more open to the idea of adoption.
Hosting
When a family and child are ready to move to hosting, they make a one-year commitment to spend time with one another (at least twice a month, on weekends). Through the hosting process, the kids and families continue getting to know one another and building a connection as they experience what life would be like as a family.
As a host, you can spend time with a child outside of Kidsave events, welcoming them into your home and family life. Kids can have overnight stays, spend weekends, and spend holidays with their host family.
For many families, the Weekend Miracles program is the ideal way to adopt a child as it helps build a relationship of connection gradually and more organically – one where the child chooses you too.
We’re proud to say that 9 out of 10 Kidsave-facilitated hosting relationships continue beyond the initial one-year commitment, with hosts staying connected to the child throughout their life as a mentor, legal guardian, foster, or adoptive family.
Volunteering
There are many volunteering opportunities for our Weekend Miracles program, including but not limited to:
- Provide help at our Meet the Kids events
- Be a volunteer driver
- Fundraise in your community
- Provide pro bono work in marketing, communications, videography/photography
Or there are some small steps that you can take right now! Such as:
- Follow us on social media (see links below) and help us spread the word
- Donate to our program
A few ways to get started
- Book a phone call
Book a 30-minute phone call with a staff member in:
- Attend an online orientation
Find LA Weekend Miracles Orientation, Houston Weekend Miracles Orientation, and Volunteer Orientation on our event calendar.
- Fill out an inquiry form
Once you complete an inquiry form, a member of our team will be in touch with you to answer any questions you have and discuss next steps for joining the program.
Still Have Questions?
Go to our Weekend Miracles page for more detailed information.
