The Most Foster Friendly Main Street in America
In October, Mayor Ken Moore of Franklin, Tennessee declared that his town had the Most Foster Friendly Main Street in America. This was after 40 Franklin businesses signed on to become Tennessee Kids Belong Business Impact Partners. Our chapters and affiliates in Colorado, South Dakota, and Virginia soon followed Tennessee’s lead. Business Impact Partners look for ways to support foster families and youth in a number of ways, including:
- Special discounts for foster families
- How company policies support foster families
- How their workforce could include teens aging out of foster care
- Focusing employee volunteer and mentoring opportunities on youth in foster care
- Financial and in-kind support of I Belong ProjectTM, Dream Makers and America’s Kids Belong
What impact is this having? Kristin Allender, State Director at Tennessee Kids Belong shared, “A foster mom told me she was walking in downtown Franklin and it was one of those days where the kids are melting down. She looked up and saw one of those stores that had our foster friendly sticker. She told me, ‘I shopped there before. I knew they were supporting foster families, but there was something in that moment that just made me cry and say I’ve got the community around me.’”
To learn more about being a Business Impact Partner, visit americaskidsbelong.org/business
