Families that foster or adopt children face many challenges. Beyond the basic necessities, children may also need support for special needs and trauma. The preference to keep siblings together only adds to the financial challenges families face. Although the foster care system and state insurance help cover some expenses, many other essential costs are not covered.
This is where Chosen Inc. of Wisconsin steps in.
Chosen is a Waukesha-based foster care and adoption nonprofit support ministry with a mission “to foster forever families by living the Gospel, so that all children can have a safe and loving home.” The organization serves foster, kinship and adoptive families across 13 southeastern Wisconsin counties. Chosen meets the tangible needs of families and promotes family-to-family connections through events and offers public education about fostering and adoption to recruit new families.
Thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Catholic Community Foundation, Chosen will be able to help even more families by providing scholarships for therapeutic activities through its “Equip. Engage. Encourage” program.
The Catholic Community Foundation in Milwaukee awards grants for limited-term projects and programs focusing on four priority areas: education; leadership development; health care for the underserved in Milwaukee; and community-building to strengthen families, parishes, and those suffering from poverty, discrimination and violence.
“We are happy to have been able to award a grant from The Catholic Community Foundation to Chosen Inc. through our recent fall grant cycle,” said Mary Ellen Markowski, CCF President. “The organization and their work certainly fit the mission and priorities of the foundation as well as that of the Catholic Church. By awarding this $5,000 grant to them, we will be able to be a part of helping those families they serve throughout southeastern Wisconsin.”
The “Equip. Engage. Encourage” initiative promotes development and bonding for children in foster and adoptive families. These activities (camps, sports, music/art lessons and sensory experiences) can be expensive, especially when multiple siblings or kids with special needs are participating.
“Many families cannot afford to send their children to activities or sensory experiences that might benefit them tremendously,” said Karen Schlindwein, Board President for Chosen. “This grant will have a tangible, positive impact in the foster and adoptive community.”
“Sensory experiences” refer to activities, tools or environments designed to support children who have sensory challenges that are often linked to past traumatic experiences.
“Children who have experienced trauma often struggle with emotional regulation, heightened stress responses and sensory processing challenges,” Schlindwein said. “Some children may become hypersensitive to sounds, touch or movement, while others may seek out intense sensory input to feel grounded.”
Without appropriate support, these challenges can lead to difficulties in learning, social interactions, and overall well-being. Sensory tools and experiences provide a way for children to manage their stress, which also helps their families by reducing frustration, improving communication and creating a more peaceful home environment.
One local mom described the benefit of these sensory toys through involvement with Chosen.
“Our 2-1/2-year-old foster, now adopted, daughter Ellie has tactile and gross motor sensory needs that we were finding a challenge trying to meet in the winter months when she couldn’t roam outside,” said Sarah, Ellie’s mom, who requested use of first names only. “Her lack of sensory stimulation caused her to become deregulated and try to fulfill her need in ways like climbing into sinks, toilets, throwing tantrums and writing on herself.”
Sensory tools and experiences create a safe and structured way for children to engage in self-soothing and calming activities. These may include weighted blankets, fidget toys, sensory bins, soft lighting, calming music, or movement-based activities like swinging or deep-pressure input. By providing predictable and soothing sensory input, these experiences help children regulate their emotions, reduce anxiety and feel more secure in their environment.
“Chosen helped us identify which sensory experiences Ellie was craving and ordered us toys and equipment to help meet her needs,” Sarah said. “Ellie now enjoys extended times of exercise on her sensory balance beam, stimulation through foam doughs and a water table and creatively builds with her new suction toys.”
While some sensory therapies may be covered for foster and/or adoptive children, there is often high demand for those therapies that are not covered, Schlindwein said, making it challenging to get necessary help.
“Chosen steps in to fill in the gaps of what is not covered and also provides ways for families to be able to regulate these challenges within their home with supportive tools that are not generally covered.”
Depending upon the amount of each program scholarship, Schlindwein said she expects about 25 families to benefit from the foundation’s grant funding.
To learn more about Chosen Inc. Wisconsin, visit: choseninlove.org.
Therapeutic sensory tools provide ways for children who have sensory challenges that are often linked to past traumatic experiences to manage their stress, self-soothe and regain a sense of control over their bodies and emotions. (Submitted photo)
