When children enter out of home care in a foster or kinship home, they often come with very little. Caregivers need to focus on connecting with and nurturing the children so that the children can feel safe. When Be the Source meets the bigger, material needs of the children, caregivers are able to direct their attention fully to the children. 

The most requested items are:

• Weighted Items – children in care often have sensory needs and benefit from items often not covered by insurance such as weighted blankets or vests. (Weighted items are not appropriate for children under four years of age or 40 lbs.) 
• Diapers/Wipes – Be the Source is grateful to be a distribution partner of Homeaid Colorado’s Builders for Babies program.  This initiative gifts us enough diapers and wipes each year to fill our storage facility and meet diaper/wipe requests for almost the entire year.
• Car Seats – from infant carriers to booster seats for older children, foster and kinship families need safe, clean and newer car seats. 
• Mattresses/Frames – When funding is not available from the caregiver’s county or agency, Be the Source can sponsor twin mattresses, toddler beds, and cribs for foster and kinship families. If a frame is also needed, a metal platform frame may be provided, eliminating the need for a box spring. 
• Bunk Beds – Foster and kinship families are often being asked to take more children. State regulations require a certain number of square feet between beds. When space is not available laterally, bunk beds are a practical solution. 
• Clothing Assistance – Foster and kinship caregivers who take in children often find themselves scrambling to quickly create a wardrobe for each child. Be the Source, while not an ongoing clothing resource, can help offset the cost of urgent expenses for children and youth who arrive with limited clothing (and hygiene) items.
• Food Assistance – Be the Source is not intended to be an ongoing food relief organization; however, we understand that new caregivers may not have budgeted for the extra mouths they are now feeding. While caregivers are going through the process of short and long-term benefits being structured (eg: foster/kinship care reimbursement, WIC, SNAP, EBT, etc.), Be the Source can help offset the cost of groceries for the household when funding permits.

Employees from the Boulder office of Workday helped us sort and organize holiday toys.