Lutheran Care is excited to launch ‘Be the Village’, a new campaign aimed at recruiting Foster Carers in 2022.
The campaign, co-designed with current Lutheran Care Foster Carers, draws on the well-known proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’.
This message will ring true for anyone who has provided care, support and guidance to children in any capacity and Lutheran Care hopes it will also resonate with the broader South Australian community, particularly the generous families, individuals and couples out there who may be considering becoming Foster Carers.
Be the Village acknowledges that a child belongs in a community and that every child and young person needs and deserves to be supported by safe people working together and looking out for their best interests.
The campaign endorses and represents the supportive and rich culture within the Lutheran Care Foster Care community and is the result of extensive consultation with this community. It embodies what is important to their caring experience: it is all about the child.
It also honours all members of the care team and reflects the importance of children and young people remaining connected to their extended family members including parents, grandparents and community networks where safe to do so.
Be The Village promotes cultural connections and honours people outside the immediate care team of professionals and social workers, to include cultural mentors, sport coaches, school teachers (as some of the many consistent and important roles within a child’s life) and more.
Lutheran Care celebrates and acknowledges the many connections and relationships a child has and how important this human connection and support at all levels is to our sense of belonging in the community and the larger world as we grow and learn.
“We really wanted an honest message that honours all people in the village for children and young people,” said Lutheran Care Foster Care Services’ Recruitment and Retention Coordinator, Tessa Joppich.
“Most importantly, we wanted to honour the real and lived experiences of our community of Foster Carers. The Village messaging came directly from them and it’s important to us that this campaign reflects their hearts and their motivations to care.”
With a growing need for carers for children and young people in South Australia, Be the Village also highlights the many different types of Foster Care options and aims to address pre-existing ideas about foster caring to potential carers and families.
Some children and young people only need Short Term Care; carers that are willing to stand in the gap for as long as it’s needed.
Other children require the safety and nurturing environment provided by Long Term carers, while being supported to maintain contact with their extended family members, siblings and other community members like cultural mentors.
Some children really benefit from regular Respite Care, providing them with the opportunity to establish safe and meaningful connections, extending their Village of support with safe people who can go on to play a lifelong role in the child’s life.
Specialist Foster Carers have specific skills and experience that allows them to support children and young people with complex needs to best help them to thrive.
The many and varied experiences of Foster Carers meeting the needs of children and young people in care, show the rich diversity within the Village.
Throughout the campaign we’ll be sharing real stories from within the Village and celebrating the success of partnership and families working together to safeguard children and young people in care.
We encourage all people to engage, share and help us reach as many people as possible throughout the campaign.
“At the end of the day, the Village messaging is reflective of a child belonging in community and being supported by safe people working together and looking out for their best interests,” Tessa adds.
And we know from all the research and all the experts, that relationships are the agents for change.
As Dr Bruce Perry, a leading teacher, clinician and researcher in children’s mental health and neuroscience, says: “The more healthy relationships a child has, the more likely they will recover from trauma and thrive. Relationships are the agents of change and the most powerful form of therapy is human love.”
There are different roles that different people play in the Village. And they are all important.
Have you thought about fostering or would like to learn more?
Join the Village.
Be the Village.