A former storage room at Union Station, 613 Hamilton St., has recently been transformed into a welcoming and cheerful space to meet the practical needs of foster and kinship families, who dedicate many hours each day to area youths under their care.
Raising Arrows offers families with clothing and shoes to outfit their foster and kinship children, along with backpacks, toys, baby items, books and even cribs, beds and furniture, all free of charge.
On one of the ministry’s first “shopping days” Thursday, Ronica and Ralph Segovia of Urbana stopped by for some back-to-school clothes for the 10 boys currently in their home, which includes seven children on the autism spectrum, they said.
The couple has served as foster parents for the past 15 years with Adriel, and through their experiences, the Urbana residents have adopted six children.
While they said the stipends they receive for expenses are helpful, those funds do not cover all of the needs of their foster children.
“This will help us stretch our budget so much, so we can save up to do fun activities with the kids, like a movie night that we had recently,” Mr. Segovia said.
“It’s such a blessing to be able to pick up clothing and backpacks that our kids will need to start school in the fall,” Mrs. Segovia said. “We just purchased summer clothes for them just a few months ago, which many of them have nearly outgrown.”
Similar to the Segovias’ experiences, Raising Arrows was founded by several local women, who are foster parents themselves.
One of the founders, Crystal Burgel of Cable, said she and her husband, Shane, have been foster parents for about six years. When children enter their home, she related that usually they arrive “with only the clothes on their backs.”
“We usually would have to go shopping right away, even for essentials like toothbrushes and toothpaste,” she said.
Her family learned of a similar program called Seeds of Hope in Troy that provides clothing and other items for foster families. She would pack up her family to make the one-hour trip to that location.
“On one of our many trips there, I had the thought that, ‘Maybe we could start something like this a little closer to home?’ I know there’s so many other families who have a similar need.
“Little did I know that God had placed this dream on other people’s hearts at the same time.”
Mrs. Burgel said she posted on Facebook about her idea and got a quick response from Nicki Foos Kimball, who said, “I just had a dream about doing this.” A fellow foster parent, Katie Krabill, also told her that she had been in talks with area foster care agencies about offering this type of ministry.
While starting out small in the Burgels’ garage in April, Raising Arrows quickly grew its inventory through many generous area donors and moved into Union Station during June.
Jodi Montgomery, the Yeater family and other family members and friends also helped to get the program off the ground, said Mrs. Burgel, whose family is currently caring for two foster children as longtime placements.
“We had so much help from the community to get us organized, and to clean and paint here in this room,” she said at the Raising Arrows space that is located down the hallway to the left from the main entrance of Union Station.
“When we toured this room, it was hard to imagine the potential in this former storage area that was full of boxes. But with so many people giving of their time and talents, we’re so happy with how it’s all turned out.”
Raising Arrows takes its name from Psalms 127:3-5, which states, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”
While the ministry is continuing to accept donations of gently used clothing, shoes, toys and etc., the Cable area resident said most importantly, they want to spread the word to area foster and kinship families that they are open to serve them.
“I think for people who serve as foster parents, they are sometimes in the mindset that they don’t want to take something that someone else could have,” Mrs. Burgel said. “We want them to know that we are here for them and like the Segovias said, we can help them stretch their budgets a little further so they can better provide for their families.”
Upcoming “shopping” days for foster families are slated for 9 to 11 a.m. today, Saturday, July 24; along with 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 5; Saturday, Aug. 7; Thursday, Aug. 19; and Saturday, Aug. 21.
In addition, families are welcome to message the “Raising Arrows Ohio” page on Facebook to request specific items, which can be picked up at their convenience if they can’t make it to a shopping day.
Relating to donations, some of the items currently needed include: diapers, wipes, baby boy clothing, new packages of underwear and socks, and toiletry items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and deodorant.
Raising Arrows accepts gently used clothing and shoes in sizes from infant to adult large.
Donations can be dropped by the door of Raising Arrows anytime Union Station is open, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and volunteers will pull the donations inside the doors when they arrive.
Another need is for volunteers to help sort the donations at Union Station, with individuals asked to message the Facebook page as well.