ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Lehigh Valley child care provider is set to open a new home in Allentown to keep fostered siblings together.
And it should be open by Christmas, according to Marquisha Fleetwood, who runs In Arms Reach Childcare Services.
Fleetwood on Monday got the blessing of Allentown Zoning Hearing Board to open a small group home in the 200 block of South 17th Street.
The three-story, three-bedroom home would offer space for up to six people and “the opportunity to keep large sibling groups together” while in foster care, she said.
Fleetwood said she plans to use the home to “extend my expertise, my nurturing, my wisdom” about childcare.
In Arms Reach has facilities in Allentown and Bethlehem. The company offers a variety of services, including traditional childcare, a food pantry, transportation and housing.
'They end up getting torn apart'
The South 17th Street home will provide short-term housing, letting siblings stay up to six months as they wait to be placed in foster care or reunited with their families.
But the home and In Arms Reach is “going to be a long-term relationship for them,” Fleetwood said.
“This has been a lifelong dream to be able to open the doors and give siblings” a place to stay together, she said. “So many times in foster care, there's not enough space for the kids, so they end up getting torn apart.”
Her plans to keep siblings together while in foster care came to the surprise and delight of at least one neighbor.
“I'm just looking forward to opening the doors and embracing children and exposing them to happiness."Marquisha Fleetwood, founder of In Arms Reach Childcare Services
Judith Patterson, who lives next door to the approved group home, said she attended Monday’s meeting because she wanted to learn about her new neighbor.
She said her stomach sank after seeing a “small group home” could move in, but her fears were eased after “meeting this lovely woman” and hearing Fleetwood’s goal.
Six children living next door “is going to be kind of a welcome addition to [the] noise and chaos,” Patterson said, noting she had four kids running through her house.
The group home should open in about two months, after crews finish work and all permits are secured, Fleetwood said.
“I'm just looking forward to opening the doors and embracing children and exposing them to happiness,” she told LehighValleyNews.com.
