In quaint Port Townsend, in Jefferson County, Washington, there is a community opening its homes and hearts to change the lives of children in foster care.
Ari Patterson’s understanding of the system runs deep. Long before she was a foster parent, she was in foster care herself, as a kid.
“I think that even me being a foster parent… and a volunteer, I think it makes me a better human all around because I am more empathetic. I'm more understanding. I am more patient. I understand humans at a different level. When you've worked with people who have nothing. I think that you can think about the world a little bit differently,” said Ari Patterson, a former program manager for Olympic Angels.
The non-profit started in 2020 to be another resource, outside of the state system, for children and youth in foster care and their foster families to receive added support.
Patterson says the kids are often overlooked, and their foster families are overwhelmed.
“We're small out here, so we have a chance to do it right. I think big cities, you walk on the street, and you're a stranger. In our cities, you walk on the street and you're either a family member, or friend, or went to school with somebody,” Patterson said.
Patterson says these kids face immense challenges such as high mental health and medical needs.
“They have to see doctors and dentists and eye doctors and therapists and visits... Foster parents can only be 1 or 2 people. Right? And, so I couldn't always be in five places at once, and so they really filled in that gap,” Patterson said.
A Northwest Foster Care Alumni study found that nearly 65% of youth in foster care in Washington and Oregon changed schools 7 or more times, interrupting their learning and support system.
Olympic Angels’ Executive Director, Tasha Fitzgerald, says that’s why one of their programs focuses on mentorship.
“Once that mentor enters that relationship, they are giving their time, their energy and their love willingly. And that means a lot. And as I've said before, it is really important for someone to be in a child's life who knows the color of their eyes and the passions of their hearts,” Fitzgerald said.
For nearly a year, Misty Adair has been a mentor.
“I think that we came together at a time for her where she was ready for some differences to happen. So the synergy was there. So we have already seen some really positive changes in her life,” Adair said.
Adair and her mentee bonded over their shared interest in the arts.
“So, we decide on a project... I get all the materials and we have this big studio time. We've actually gone to a professional studio before and made rings together. We made ourselves matching rings and I’m actually wearing mine right now. That was a really cool experience,” Adair explained.
As for Patterson, hearing Adair talk about her experience as a mentor and her mentee, got her emotional.
“I’ve known this child since they were 6 years old. So just hearing from her perspective, how magical it’s been, it kind of touched me a lot,” Patterson said.
To learn more about Olympic Angels or how to offer support, head to OlympicAngels.org.
