Wrapping Up National Foster Care Month and Mental Health Awareness Month

During the month of May, Friends of the Children joined the nationwide campaigns of National Foster Care Month and National Mental Health Awareness Month across our network! We are proud to celebrate and build awareness around our 30-year history of empowering children and families to be healthy and flourish.

Each week we shared inspiring stories on our website, social media, and email about the impact Friends have as they walk alongside children and families who face the greatest obstacles. The stories shared from our national network highlighted the ways in which supporting children and families impacted by foster care and mental health is at the heart of Friends of the Children’s work every month, every week, and every day of the year.

To celebrate foster care and mental health, we also teamed up with youth advocate and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles! On May 16th, we were honored to welcome Simone as she hosted a Zoom call with more than 100 youth in Friends of the Children programs across the country. It was the third year in a row that Simone Zoomed with youth to answer questions, share her own personal story about foster care, and lead the group in some stretches.

We are thrilled Simone posted about the event to her 6.5 million followers on her Instagram story! Simone said: “Friends of the Children....THANK YOU!!! It made my day to talk with so many amazing kids that are part of @friendsnational! I’m honored to celebrate National Foster Care Month and Mental Health Awareness Month with you! Here’s to all you do to make the world a better place.”

Throughout the month of May, Friends of the Children was featured on billboards in nearly 30 cities across the country through a partnership with Billups, an outdoor advertising agency. Billups placed thousands of digital placements, which were seen everywhere from multiple screens a few blocks from NY Times Square, bus stops, huge billboards, taxi screens, electric car charging stations and more. We are grateful for these ads for bringing awareness to our work across the nation!

Thank you for celebrating National Foster Care Month and Mental Health Awareness Month with us. With the support of champions like you across the country, we are on our way to serving thousands more children and families across the country to be safe, well, and reach their full potential. Thank you for the work you do to amplify our commitment to empowering youth and their families!