Worthdays founder Caroline Neal (Photo by Jay Paul)
People care about you, and you matter. Those are words most of us appreciate hearing, but it’s a message that’s especially crucial to the nearly 5,500 kids currently in Virginia’s foster care system.
Caroline Neal, a former Chesterfield County social worker, founded the local nonprofit Worthdays to spread that message by helping children in foster care to celebrate their birthdays and other important milestones with personalized gift boxes.
Worthdays also provides luggage so that children in foster care can transport their belongings with dignity, helps with transportation and outfitting dorm rooms, and provides funding for typical childhood activities such as sports and prom that may otherwise be unavailable to kids in foster care.
“I want to do everything possible to show kids that they are worthy,” says Neal, who grew up in a family that fostered children. And as a mother of three of her own children, Neal wants to show them “that we must do everything in our power to positively impact others.”
Neal started Worthdays while she was on maternity leave from a job as a child welfare social worker. A teen she had worked with previously was living alone in a residential treatment center, and she wanted to do something special to help him celebrate his birthday because he was having a hard time in his life. She put together some items he would like so he would know he was not forgotten.
“There are kids right here in our community that won’t be acknowledged on their birthday,” she says. “For kids who have experienced trauma, loss and separation, and then, if the anniversary of your birth isn’t even remembered or celebrated, how does one feel their life matters or is worthy?”
This August will be five years since the young man’s story inspired the creation of Worthdays. During that time, the organization has assisted more than 1,500 children in foster care in Chesterfield, Richmond, Henrico, Alexandria and James City County. Social workers from public welfare agencies refer kids who might not otherwise be celebrated.
Since its inception, Worthdays has operated solely with volunteers and has no paid staff. Neal says she is considering changing that model to enable future growth because the organization is often approached by other agencies from across the state and beyond with requests to serve more children.
A birthday box/duffel bag sponsored by the owner of 11 Sixteen Photography (Photo courtesy 11 Sixteen Photography)
Worthdays’ birthday boxes are made with love and respect, Neal says. “It is incredibly important to our organization that we celebrate the young people we serve by name, and that everything we do preserves their dignity and [sense of] worth. One way we do this is delivering their birthday box in a reusable container, luggage, duffel bag, laundry basket or similar container that can replace the trash bags kids in foster care all too often use to transport their belongings.”
Gifts are personalized “so that they know someone planned specifically for them as opposed to a generic celebration,” she says.
The boxes are assembled and paid for by sponsors. Each month, Worthdays publishes a post on its Facebook page detailing upcoming birthdays: “18th birthday — young man who will be celebrating with his social worker only at the treatment center where he lives,” a recent post reads. “He loves fashion & art (draws very well). Gift cards for clothes and items for a new apartment would be wonderful.”
Worthdays often assists older youth who are aging out of foster care or who are already living on their own. Neal says statistics show this is a vulnerable group that, without support, is at high risk for homelessness, pregnancy, incarceration and unemployment.
Heather Akin, a family services specialist with the Richmond Department of Social Services, says, “Hundreds of youth have been made to feel worthy on life’s special occasions,” thanks to Worthdays.
“It takes a village to support those impacted by the foster care system,” she says. “Being placed in foster care can be one of the most traumatic experiences that a child or teenager will experience in their lifetime. Days are challenging, but special occasions such as birthdays and holidays are even more challenging. Imagine waking up on your birthday in a residential treatment facility or group home, separated from your family and feeling alone.”
Akin shares a moving story. “Back in May 2017, after a youth on my caseload opened his gifts, he wrote a thank-you card to the family that had sponsored his birthday. What he wrote I’ll never forget: ‘Thank you for helping me feel normal because it is my special day. I’ve never celebrated my birthday before, so this is a whole new experience for me.’ The generosity of Worthdays and the community of sponsors that the organization has created have helped not only this young man, but hundreds of youth to know that they are important, worthy and celebrated.”
Kristin Lemon became a sponsor because she believes in Worthdays’ purpose. “These kids … have already been through situations no kids should have to endure, and Worthdays provides a rainbow in their otherwise stormy life,” she says.
The young man whose birthday inspired the creation of Worthdays will turn 21 in August. “With that anniversary it is exciting to see how far Worthdays has come, but even more exciting to look to the future,” Neal says. “The organization is eager to continue to grow and serve kids for many years to come.”
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