The nonprofit Friends of Children of North Central Florida organization formed in 2002 to raise and endow funds to build and maintain a foster care campus in Alachua County that will also serve children in Dixie, Levy, Gilchrist, and Marion counties. The campus will be operated by the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes. 

The proposed campus in Lacrosse will provide a stable, loving, family-style environment where siblings can stay together and difficult-to-place older children and teens can feel valued and wanted. Every year local kids are separated from siblings when they enter foster care. In addition to dealing with the abuse, neglect, or abandonment that lead to their removal from parents, these children must enter the homes of strangers without all their brothers and sisters. Likewise, every year social workers struggle to find foster care for difficult to place older children and teens entering the system. A group campus here will alleviate these problems by providing a unique and loving home for these special kids.  The campus will start out with one group home composed of a married couple serving as house parents, eight children, and other care-giving staff.

To date, Friends of Children has secured property for the campus in Lacrosse and, having raised $1.9 million, is closer than ever to the $2 million endowment required to break ground. The Yerman Friends of Children 5K is a major fundraiser for this worthy endeavor. You can support the Friends of Children of North Central Florida via the Yerman 5K in a variety of ways: one-time donation, as a sponsor, or by running/walking individually, or on a team.

Check out these FBCH foster care success stories on page 6 of Sharing magazine.