With our new cohort in the South Bay, based at Congregation Tikvat Jacob (CTJ), we already have 10 families with 29 children. The wider CTJ community has jumped into action in support of the foster family cohort. And the powerful stories from the CTJ cohort would have you both weeping and laughing in joy.
At this point, as we developed and piloted our model, we’ve engaged 100 cohort members, about 60 of whom, at any given time, are fostering about 80 kids; we have had over 100 events including cohort meetings, foster agency intro sessions, workshops and fun outings; engaged a wide-range of volunteers from the communities; created constellations of external agency and professional support; brought our cultural materials into the life of the community— raising awareness about foster care and, in the case of religious communities, providing workshops and guidance to clergy to better integrate foster care and adoption themes into cultural and ritual life, as well as provide unique pastoral care.
Susan Silverman, 2N CEO