Fostering Change Foster Closet
By Sandy Parrish
What motivated you and your wife Jennifer to start the foundation?
Our motivation came after becoming foster parents ourselves. We personally witnessed that many of these children come into care with next to nothing. Our mission is to provide foster families and foster children with the items they need and want to create a sense of normalcy for them. We found that there are so many foster families out there that have a true passion for fostering and we wanted to help them by providing them with items free of charge. We have been embraced by our community and can now also offer necessities to families in need, not just foster children. We hope that our foster closet takes the stress away from foster families. It is not easy getting that call asking if you can take in a child, especially when you may not be equipped with items needed for a specific age. Our goal is to ease the stress that comes with fostering.
What brought you to Land O’ Lakes?
Originally, we are from Long Island, New York. My wife and I wanted a better place to raise our children. We had family here in Florida and we chose Land O’ Lakes because we loved the area and the schools. I started out at NYPD and transferred to the Clearwater Police Department in 2004. While with the Clearwater Police Department, I held titles of School Resource Officer, Officer Friendly and SWAT Hostage Negotiator. I also had the privilege to serve on the Honor Guard. Upon retiring from there, I worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigations working in counter-terrorism.
I am retired law enforcement, my wife is a teacher in Pasco County, my son works for the FBI, my oldest daughter is a junior at Saint Leo University and my youngest daughter is a junior at Land O’ Lakes High School. I own All In 1 Mobile Garage, so when I’m not at the Foster Closet, I am on the road with that. My partner and I built a 33-foot trailer that is equipped with everything you would find in a brick and mortar repair shop, including a hydraulic lift.
We’re a very close family and usually, schedules permitting, do everything together. We also have two adorable foster babies and we are also lucky enough to have our previous foster kids come stay with us quite a bit. My entire family works in the foundation. We don’t really have time for hobbies because when we are not working at our jobs, we’re working at the foster closet. But we do enjoy going to dinner as a family and spending time with each other. We also enjoy supporting each other in sports. I volunteer as a coach for the Land O’ Lakes High School Football team and my youngest daughter is a varsity cheerleader there. In the fall, you will find us under the Friday night lights!
How has COVID-19 impacted the foundation?
We have taken precautions to keep our foster families and foster children healthy and safe. We’ve stopped taking donations from the public and we have stopped volunteers coming in to help sort and organize. It has taken a bit of a toll on us because the foster system does not stop taking children, so we are still getting calls for children and families in need. We have been working at the closet, sorting, organizing, building our storage area and pulling items for foster families to pick up, but now it’s just us (our family). We do not have our amazing volunteers at this point. Unfortunately, foster families do not have the opportunity to choose the items they need because we have closed our facility to the public, but we have been doing our best to pull the items they need and set them out so that they can pick them up while maintaining social distance.
My amazing wife really misses her students, so she and my kids drove around to all of her kindergarten students’ homes and held up a sign that she missed them. All of her kids were so excited that their teacher was at their house. It was a very cool day.
Giving Thanks
There have been many people who have stepped forward to help us. First and foremost, the Hegedus Family, who donated the land and house for us to use, and my business partner, Josh Gaulden who literally helped me every step of the way. The following companies donated their supplies and labor to help fix up the house: First Choice Roofing, Coastal Tile, Almighty Screening, T-Rex Apparel, Cardinal Doors, Excel Home Solar, Mears Plumbing, United By Grass, Island Accent Painting, Rufire Media, Valentine Landscaping, Montrose Shelving, Ben Franklin Plumbing, Hambone Strategies, Ain’t Gonna Fix Itself, The Stano Foundation, Austin Sheffield Tree Trimming and The Land O’ Lakes Moose Lodge. Without the help from everyone I mentioned, we would not be where we are today. This doesn’t even include the hundreds of people who have donated items, toys, clothes, shed, trailers, time and money. We are forever grateful.
How can volunteers get involved?
Once we get past COVID-19, we will be looking for many volunteers to help sort and organize donations. In the meantime, we are always accepting monetary donations to offset our out-of-pocket expenses. We are a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, however, we have financed the start-up and maintenance expenses ourselves.
For more information about Fostering Change Foster Closet, please visit fosteringchangecloset.com or email fosteringchangecloset@gmail.com.
