Bloom Family Designs: A Creative Way to Get Involved in Adoption and Foster Care
Ever since I was young, adoption was something that grabbed my attention. I did not always know if I would personally be able to adopt a child or not, but I knew that caring for children in need of a family was necessary. Years later, when my husband and I started discussing adding children to our family, adoption for me was at the top of the list. We considered adopting a child before having children biologically. Then, to our surprise, we found out that we were expecting our first son.
We were overjoyed at the arrival of our son. Although, at the same time that I was celebrating his birth, I could not stop thinking about the many vulnerable children around the world. I began praying about what my role looked like in regards to orphan care. Was personally adopting a child the only way for us to help? Or were there other ways?
In 2017, my son was just a few months old and I was working from home running a small interior design business. I started volunteering with adoption agencies and similar organizations in our area to learn more about how I could support children in need of a family. Throughout that time, I saw multiple families walk through the fostering and/or adoption process and quickly began to notice a need when it came to preparing their children’s rooms.
I saw a lot of empty walls, piles of donated items, and a lack of time or resources to sort through it all. When beginning the fostering or adoption process, there are so many emotional ups and downs parents experience. Knowing when to start preparing a room for a child can feel overwhelming. Parents do not always know when a child will be arriving, what age they will be, or even the gender, and it can be hard to create a flexible and inviting space that can accommodate each child’s needs. On top of this, adopting a child financially is expensive and there are often times not much left to put towards furnishing or decorating a room.
When friends of ours decided to start fostering, we were talking with them about how to create a welcoming space for any child that may come through their home. After meeting for coffee, I offered to help create their kids’ room and I told them that I wanted to pay for it. As soon as I left the conversation, I was thinking this is crazy Lord! How will this ever be possible? But, I knew that this was how I was being called to help and I was going to give it my absolute best.
About three to four weeks later, we had gathered a team of volunteers and created our very first room for a foster child, at no cost to the family. This was the beginning of Bloom Family Designs.
We were committed to creating a room for each foster or adopted child that we encountered, as resources allowed. We also firmly believed that every child we served deserved our absolute best - whether they were fostered, adopted, or biological - and that is how we approached the designs of our rooms. We began gathering our Board of Directors and a team of volunteers, and before we knew it we had officially registered as a 501c3, and I was closing the doors on my residential design business.
Since our launch in June of 2017, Bloom Family Designs has furnished and decorated 35 ROOMS for foster and adopted children, at no cost to the families! Those rooms have helped welcome home over 50 CHILDREN in a beautiful way. And each project has been fully funded and installed by individuals in the community. It has been an absolutely incredible journey so far and we cannot wait to see how the Lord continues to grow Bloom and our mission in 2020!
One of the coolest things about all of this is that it started by taking one step of obedience. Becoming the Founder and Director of a nonprofit was not exactly how I envisioned my adoption role in the beginning. But it is exactly where I am supposed to be today and I know that the Lord is using my current gifts to serve foster and adoptive families in the way that He uniquely created for me.
Caring for orphaned children is not a question of “if”, but a question of “how”. I know that we may not all be called to adopt or foster a child personally, but we are all called to do something. Each person is needed and valued, and together we can help solve the orphan crisis happening around us.
This month, I encourage you to take the time to consider what your role may be in supporting foster or adoptive families in your community. Whether it be sending a meal, arranging a playdate, or sending a note of encouragement, they cannot walk their road alone and need your help to welcome their children home in a beautiful way!
If you would like to learn more about serving with Bloom Family Designs in Middle Tennessee, Central North Carolina, or Dallas, Texas, you can do so by visiting www.bloomfamilydesigns.com or by following us on Instagram @bloomfamilydesigns.
We would love to have you join us!
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