Fostering Hope is a Christian organisation whose work comes from the Bible and the teachings of Jesus to ‘visit’ and ‘care for’ orphans and widows, to put the lonely in families, to love the fatherless, to care for children, to love the neighbours in the communities God has placed us, and to be salt and light.
Vision: To see a movement of Australian Christians and churches living out their faith by caring for children growing up in out of home care.
Mission: To inspire and equip Christians in Australia to find more homes for children removed from their families of birth than are needed. To support the church to understand and support carers and children in care in their churches and communities.
Values: Fostering Hope has three core values that influence all our work. We are faith-rooted, child-focused and believe in the importance of community.
Faith-rooted: As Christians, we believe each of us are rescued by God and adopted into His family and then encouraged to live like Jesus. Jesus’ example was one of loving and accepting the vulnerable and powerless and we seek to do the same. We commit to prayer and hold onto our faith in all our work. We are open about our faith foundation and recognise the potential of individual Christians and church communities to make a difference.
Child-focused: children and young people are the reason we do our work. Childhood is a time of developing, learning, and joy and only happens once. It is a time when we need protection and love from adults in our lives. We are passionate about finding the best possible home for every child who needs one, where they will find belonging, hope, and an opportunity to thrive. We believe vulnerable children can thrive in out of home care when we listen to their voices and are trauma-informed in our care.
Value community: We value community for children who enter care and for carers. When children are removed, they are also removed from their communities and we work with carers to build a community around the children in their home. Caring for vulnerable children is not easy and carers need communities of other Christian carers and their church community for spiritual and practical support.