Press Release
HALOS held its Spring Festival for local kinship families on Saturday, April 1st at Jerry Zucker Middle School of Science.
Kinship caregivers are grandparents or other relatives raising children to keep them out of foster care. They are often under a lot of stress and face many challenges each day.
HALOS' Director of Programs, Khalilah Sumners says, “HALOS seeks to ensure that our families stay connected. Not only to the children in their care, but to the greater kinship community. We host gatherings, such as the Spring Festival, so that caregivers are able to meet one another and share experiences. Children get to see themselves as not alone in this experience and, hopefully, gain an understanding that family looks like the people who love and support you!”
HALOS partnered with North Charleston Fire Department for a fire safety activity, Premier Martial Arts for a martial arts demo and Fresh Future Farm for a seed planting project. This year's festival also included games and activities like giant Uno, basketball, soccer skills, sack races, crafts, temporary tattoos and mini golf. The nearly 200 caregivers and children in attendance also enjoyed a catered lunch.
This event is a time of fun and fellowship for families receiving services from HALOS and they look forward to it.
“The laughter and smiling faces remind us why we do this work,” said Cassidy Gerald, HALOS' Events and Engagement Coordinator, “particularly those of two young boys – classmates and friends from school – realizing they had one more thing in common that they didn't know about.”
Both boys are being raised by their grandmothers. The boys' laughter filled the air as they introduced their grandmothers to each other.
For more information about HALOS and the programs and services we provide for kinship families, visit charlestonhalos.org.
