Today's Economic Pressures

I hear that tonight President Obama will be addressing the nation on television. It seems that the news has been overwhelmingly focused on the economic crisis. Television and radio ads are saying "in today's troubled times". I feel like shouting "enough is enough". In foster care training we learn to focus on our strengths and address our needs in ways that turn them into strengths. Our children are hearing the same messages on television and radio that we are. They are hearing the family conversations about layoffs, payments, budget cuts. We all need to consider how we can focus on our strengths and try to keep things on a positive note.

As we plan our first annual conference, we have addressed financial concerns. We have had teleconference calls to reduce the expense and time of travel. We have worked with the variety of agencies involved in planning this conference to be able to keep costs down, provide a quality conference, and do it at no cost to the participants except for their travel. We have had wonderful cooperation from everyone involved, from funding sources to hotel staff.

At home, we have addressed the economic issues as well. We handle things by telephone as much as possible. Even though the cost of fuel is down considerably, we still want to conserve as much as possible. We recycle everything that we can, which gives us a feeling that we are helping the environment by not filling up landfills with stuff that can be re-made into something else useable. We are planting a garden. We are using the clothes line as much as possible in place of the clothes dryer. We keep lights turned off in empty rooms, we keep our thermostat turned down, we repair rather than throw away. We look for bargains and things on sale, things we truly need, not things we want. We pack snacks to take to sports events so we don't spend alot of money on overpriced and unhealthy food at the concession stands. These things may not sound like much, but they can add up to a considerable savings. Savings that can be used to purchase necessities like food and pay for things like utilities. We teach our children, by example, how to save rather than how to spend.

Let's set a positive example for our children and face the future with a good outlook and good choices. Saundra

We are already in February, 2009. Time seems to go by so quickly. I wonder if the children in foster care think the same. I would guess that for them, time seems to drag. Here at KFAPA, there is so much to do! We continue our conference planning. Now that we have the date, place, theme, and speakers, we are working on whether to provide child care to the attendees and how to design a brochure. The child care issue is a complex one, as children in foster care have specific requirements regarding child care. The brochure design is a complex one as well, because we have to come up with a logo to match our theme, get all the conference information arranged on the brochure in a eye-catching manner, then figure out how to distribute it. The committee working on this conference is putting in a lot of time and effort. Hopefully, the families and workers will feel that is will be of benefit and we will have a full house.

It seems like there is a big let-down after "the holidays". Yet we have the SuperBowl (seems like that has turned into a holiday of sorts), Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and let's not forget spring break. The National Foster Parent Association has its annual conference in Reno, Nevada the first week of May. Anyone interested in attending that can visit their website for information. And please keep looking at our website, kfapa.org, for updates and information about our conference on July 11, 2009, in Topeka, Kansas.