Sanctuary has helped our family so much. We decided to start fostering when my goddaughters got placed with us for emergency CPS placement. They trained us very professionally and helped us set up our home every step of the way through adoption. This was almost four years of support! There was always someone who came to check on the kids and make sure they felt safe and loved. They offer therapy for children- all our girls loved their therapists. Even after adoption they provided low cost therapy and wraparound services to continue. Then we started fostering other children from care who needed more behavioral support. Trained therapists come to the home or in the community when there was a major behavioral episode with a child. Having someone there trained in deescalation and providing calm was so important. Sanctuary creates a community of families who support one another and look after each others kids for respite. If you are away for a weekend or need someone to watch a kiddo, they don’t go back into foster care, they go to another family who becomes like family. Sanctuary helps build these relationships through events like Christmas parties and family fun days at the park. We felt so celebrated and supported for fostering. They thanked us and love the kids who come through their doors like they are family. If you are trying to find an agency to support you, Sanctuary will absolutely be there every step of the difficult, yet rewarding, journey!
I am a professional in the field of foster care. I am also a licensed foster parent. I chose The Sanctuary as my agency because of the 24/7 / 365 support services and wrap around support services they offer. Their team has not only lived up to my expectations, they have surpassed them.
Every member of the team has been responsive, thorough, compassionate, caring, and attentive. Getting licensed is not a quick, easy, or inexpensive process. The Sanctuary has been beside me every step of the way. After licensing, they were on top of letting me know next steps. Since placement, they have been involved, thorough, and (most importantly) responsive to even my most simple needs and requests.
Knowing they have a crisis response team available and at the ready within 30 minutes if I need to call is very comforting. I have been more than pleased by their staff and care every step of the way. I highly recommend The Sanctuary not only to my clients looking for an agency, but to anyone (experienced or not) considering fostering or adopting a child in foster care.
I have been a volunteer and a donor with The Sanctuary for over 3 years. I have interacted with not only the families and children but also with the administrative staff, the therapist and executives. I have found only caring, professional and mission driven individuals at all levels of this wonderful organization.
The level of service and support they provide to the children and families is above and beyond what is provided by other foster care organizations. It is delivered with love and dedication. They are truly making a life changing difference in all that are serviced by them making a positive “ripple effect” into the community.
I proudly donate time and money to them because I have personally witnessed the direct positive impact they are having on those they assist.
My wife and I are intimately familiar with the Sanctuary. We volunteer and we know many of the staff and other volunteers very well. They truly believe in the value of each child and they live that commitment in good times and bad, rain or shine. We trust them with our time and money and we can't say enough good things about the important work they do in our community for our most vulnerable.
Our first placement came to us in January, the sweetest two week old baby boy we called Z. And we had no idea what we were doing. We went through a lot of training and did even more reading on how to prepare for a foster placement. Most if it was for older kids, the behaviors that come from their trauma and how best to help them. Honestly, we didn't think we would be getting a call for a newborn, so we didn't prepare. It was scary and wonderful all at the same time. The Sanctuary was amazing at providing support. We received meals for the first couple weeks, which is more help than you would think. Trying to find time to grocery shop and prepare meals, or even thinking about what to cook was a lot at the time. We knew we always had someone to call, day or night that would help.
The following week I was scheduled for surgery, that kept me in the hospital for two days and with little mobility for several weeks. The sanctuary arranged for Z to stay with another licensed family for a week. They would turn out to be a huge help watching Z many times for us when we needed help.
My husband's anxiety started too grow with all the changes that come with a new baby. He went and spoke with the on staff counselor The Sanctuary provides and it helped him tremendously.
It was a bit of a struggle to get the approval from CPS for daycare, but with the help of the Sanctuary we were able to get it done a lot faster than we would have on our own. Their constant help navigating the paperwork and procedures of CPS was a much needed support, without them it would have been overwhelming. The Sanctuary is not only an advocate for the child but one for the foster family as well. They help ever single step of the way.
Not longer after I healed from my surgery my father was in an accident and in the ICU an hour away for a month before he passed. I was traveling five days a week back and forth from the hospital. Not more than a couple days would pass without a check in from our Sanctuary case worker. Not only checking to see how my dad and we were, but if there was anything they could provide to help. Meals, counseling, prayer, respite, transport for doctors appointments for Z, etc.
The first half of this year was by far the most challenging we have faced. On top of the many changes that comes with a new born and the unexpected challenges, both my husband and I work and were in school at the time (don't ask me what we were thinking) BUT we made it with and there is not a question in my mind that we did because of support and wrap around care The Sanctuary provides.
Z was with us until he moved in with a family member at the end of July. The emotions that you experience during the foster care process are often heavy and overwhelming, both great joy and sorrow are part of all of it, and a constant living in a pile of unknowns. We've talked to other foster families with different agencies and found that many do not provide the support that The Sanctuary does. If we had experienced this year with one of those agencies I'm not sure we would be in a place willing or able to do it again.
We've all heard the system is broken, and believe me, it is. But The Sanctuary is not fighting that system, but fighting for the children, their families and the foster families while working with that broken system trying to bring healing to all involved.
As new foster parents, we knew we had a lot to learn! In the middle of the night with a 3 year old traumatized little girl, my husband and I were at the end of anything we knew to do. We had been instructed to call the 24/7 crisis phone any time day or night, so we did! Hearing the keys on the other end of the phone at 2 am was absolutely the most comforting sound. We were not alone! We were not isolated and left to endure on our own! In fact, we saw our little foster child begin to heal. She began to feel safe and the extreme hard behaviors began to subside. The training, therapy and continued support combined in an amazing way to allow us to do what we felt called to do.
I am currently a board member at The Sanctuary Foster Care Services and have been for the past year. During that time, I have learned so much about its passionate mission to help these children establish permanency. It is truly a one-of-a-kind faith-based, child placement agency.
As a founding and current Board of Directors members, and as a former Texas State Representative focused on the Texas Foster Care System, I can honestly say that TSFCS is totally unique and a model for all Texas CPPs in caring for our precious foster children. Our design was to ensure anyone who touched the life of these children to be trained in TBRI, understanding the effect trauma has on each child and how to deal with this issue for each child. We also provide 24/7 wraparound care for each child and foster family! Our growth in the 3 years of being in service has been exceptional with the right team of people on our staff. We are now at roughly 80 children in our care...and have the capacity to grow with two locations.
This amazing group of people have a mission to rebuild the foster care industry to better support kids from hard places and create nurturing forever homes so that they can have the love, support and care they need to be successful loving human beings.
The Sanctuary Foster Care Services is an amazing organization doing very unique and life changing things in the foster care space. They have a 24/7 crisis intervention service that is critical for the foster parents who are caring for children in crisis! They also offer counseling for the foster children in their care along with the foster parents and biological children as well all with the intention of keeping the foster children in long term loving homes. There are over 150 volunteers, 20+ church partners, 100+ business partners and many individuals who help financially assist the ongoing Sanctuary operations.
If you are thinking of being involved with the Sanctuary, there are many ways. From donating to fostering children, there are many opportunities to support the Sanctuary. I have been friends with someone who was in the foster care system and after hearing about their experiences and the different world they've lived in and hearing all these positive results from the Sanctuary, I felt led to donate. I do not regret doing so for a single second. This is an organization that needs to be spread globally.
The sanctuary is a truly genuine organization. I can honestly say that they are for the children and they want what is best for the kids. Growing up in foster care was one of the hardest experiences I have endured and I didn't have the sanctuary, although I wish I did. I truly believe that my experience would have been a million percent better, had I had the sanctuary. I love all of the people who work there and I consider them family now. The sanctuary needs to grow to reach all of the children who are struggling because it is a real game changer for the world
The Sanctuary realizes that fostering is not just about food, clothing, and shelter for kids. It's also about healing the kids' traumas. A lot of other agencies bring families in and out through a revolving door because they don't spend the time training or helping the family work through a kid's trauma. The Sanctuary trains you and shows up to help when you're in over your head. They answer the phone at 2am. They come to your house at 2am. The kids need a family that won't quit on them. You both need the Sanctuary to make it work.
The Sanctuary is the only agency I've ever worked with that truly understands how to make a difference. They treat the problem, not just the symptoms.
The Sanctuary has done a wonderful job helping us to become foster parents. Agency staff clearly care deeply about children in foster care, and about foster parents. Staff are readily available and happy to help. I really like their emphasis on avoiding placement disruptions and assisting foster families when times get tough in order to make the placement successful. Great work by The Sanctuary!
The Sanctuary FosterCare team lead me down a path that made my journey more understandable. Knowing that even though the kiddos are my siblings, there will be some obstacles we will have to overcome. The Sanctuary prepares you & will guide you on your new path! I am ready!
The Sanctuary Foster Care Services is made up of people that not only care, but pour their hearts into every detail. They truly care about foster kiddos, biological families, and foster families. This isn’t just a job for them, but a way to make a difference in the lives of so many people.
We love how The Sanctuary takes the extra step to help foster children and families with 24 hour wrap around care. This allows for greater success in creating permanent homes for these kids. The executive team is top notch and care so passionately for the work they have been called to do.
We had been shopping around for an agency to get our family's foster adventure started. We are so glad we've chosen The Sanctuary as they have a ton of local support and offer way more support than any other agency we have come across. They are firm advocates of the foster children and so equip foster families to be able to make a strong life long match. We are about to be done with the licensing process and already their support and expertise have been incredibly helpful. They are open, honest, and clear. We really appreciate our experience so far!
This organization surround you with love and support. They help with not only financial and material help they also help with spiritual, emotional and mental as well because being in foster care takes all of the above and they are there at a moments notice. I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else or be anywhere else in foster care except for with Sanctuary Foster care services. They are extremely passionate about what they do and they love these kids as they were their own.
The sanctuary has been incredible in our foster care journey. They provide 24 hour support and help us provide the best care for our foster child and help keep us sane! We love them!
I have never encountered a group of individuals with more heart and dedication to doing what is right for kids! Children are the heart and soul of everything and every person involved through the Sanctuary