May is National Foster Care Month! For those of you who might be wondering, what exactly is foster care? Foster care is a term used for a system in which a minor is placed in either an institution, group home, or with a state-certified caregiver, a.k.a. “foster parent”.  In my opinion, it takes a truly selfless person to be a foster parent because it is both emotionally and financially challenging.
According to today’s infographic, there is currently over 400,000 children and youth in the U.S. foster care system. In today’s economy, the cost of raising one of those children is a whopping $216,108! Therefore, you could imagine the financial stress that comes along with housing several foster children. Finances aside, raising foster children is also extremely emotionally draining. Many foster families build relationships with each other, so you can imagine the emotional toll it can take on both the youth and foster parents. Therefore, to ease the stress on foster families, Sleep Train is making donations to help ease the financial aspect for these families. You can help also! You can make an in-store donation, donate money online, or host your very own supplies drive! Every bit of help counts, so start today! [via]