when it all changed

4/24/2021

the year of covid-19

It has been about one year since we all faced the biggest change ever experienced in our lives, Covid-19. Looking back, we are amazed at the way this community came together and all we were able to accomplish despite the challenges of, and also in response to, the pandemic. Cleveland Angels was able to safely provide care for its kids, youth, and families in need. Those were, and still are, tough times for youth impacted by foster care, and it is imperative, now more than ever, that they know that they are loved.

Throughout the pandemic, our Love Box leaders were still delivering Love Boxes while following the CDC social distancing guidelines. The Love Box leaders would deliver these boxes of goodies and necessities to the family's doorstep and would see smiling children peeking through the windows eager to receive their boxes.
In 2020, Dawn signed up to be a Love Box leader and soon formed a strong relationship with long time foster mom, Ms. Winnie and the 2 children in her care. Dawn went above and beyond and stepped in to help care for the kids when Ms. Winnie was unexpectedly hospitalized. Dawn provided the children with Christmas gifts, extra groceries, and guidance.

"This year, the girls have had to navigate Covid and online school, on top of having jobs. When their foster mom was hospitalized, it resulted in yet another housing change.

Give some of your time to these deserving youth. It's an investment in the future to help them age out with life skills and two feet solidly on the ground. And more importantly, not alone."

- Dawn, Love Box Leader

Many children and families experienced greater needs this year, which is why Cleveland Angels created an Amazon wish list where our community could purchase and provide for emergent needs of our families. Community members were also able to drop off purchased items through no contact donation drops that were scheduled at the Cleveland Angels office. This idea arose once we realized that the pandemic had led to a host of new needs that not all foster parents had the capacity to provide for their families. In addition to meeting immediate needs, teens at Metro Health received well-being and hygiene bags, kids received summer fun boxes, and families received special deliveries from Love Box leaders.

Angel Relief campaign

The Angel Relief Campaign was launched specifically to help families during Covid-19. This campaign gained many followers, donations, and an overwhelming amount of support, which we are so thankful for. The rate of newborns coming into foster care in 2020 was quite large, which led to the creation of the Angel Relief Campaign. Along with the no contact drop offs and an Amazon wish list, the Angel Relief Campaign received several donations from the community to help provide extra support, care, and financial relief for foster families in need. Throughout the campaign, Cleveland Angels partnered with the Metro Health Medical Home for Foster Care and other volunteers to meet the immediate need brought on by the increased rate of newborns entering the foster care system, which included anything from diapers to cribs. We were grateful that Channel 5 news covered this campaign which helped us reach more kids in need. By meeting the needs of our newborns, foster families were able to say yes to a placement and say yes to giving a child safety and unconditional love. As you can see in the picture below, the community response to these needs was amazing through our Angel Relief Campaign. We are so thankful to be a part of this amazing Cleveland Angels community that came together to help our youth!

looking forward...

We are proud of what we have accomplished this past year and how many children we were able to serve despite these uncertain times. It is truly a blessing to be able to provide support for the children, youth and families in our community. We are excited to see what the rest of 2021 has in store for us, and because of our generous supporters, we look forward to serving even more children and families in our Cleveland Angels community!