'These kids deserve dignity': Nonprofit in Palmer Twp. provides resources to foster kids

PALMER TWP., Pa. — As Meg Lalama walked through the basement of Palmer Moravian Church, she saw scores of onesies, piles of pajamas and tons of toiletries.

She wheeled a bassinet back and forth, imagining that one day a baby of her own will be there.

"I do want a biological child of my own one day," Lalama said.

But for now, helping other families in need will do.

Lalama, of Easton, is the new chapter coordinator for Fostering Hope, a nonprofit in Palmer Township that provides resources to children in the foster care system.

Fostering Hope functions as a community closet where foster children and their families can choose from a variety of resources, all of which are donated.

There's quite a range: clothing, toys and games, strollers and more.

"When these kids enter the foster system, they go from knowing their whole lives to knowing nothing," Lalama said.

"So they can come here and get a stuffed animal. Something comforting. Something that reminds them of home.

"These kids deserve dignity."

Also exclusive to Fostering Hope is "dignity duffles," a replacement for the trash bags into which kids must stuff their things if they are taken out of their homes suddenly.

"They have five minutes to pack up their whole lives," Lalama said. "Their things are not trash and don't belong in a trash bag."

The closet also is open for adopted children and those in kinship care.

A registered 501(c)(3) organization, Fostering Hope has chapters all across Pennsylvania. Lalama and a team of four other Lehigh Valley women head the one in Northampton County.

Lalama and her team will hold an open house for the community at 10 a.m. today, Dec. 21, in Palmer Moravian Church, 2901 John St., Palmer Township.

'They just get a little extra love'

While leading Fostering Hope, Lalama balances a full-time job as Northampton Area High School's family and consumer science teacher, but says the two combined are "the best of both worlds."

"I kind of stumbled into this," she said. "I saw an opening for a social media coordinator position [at Fostering Hope], but upon talking to them more, they were like, 'You could run this whole thing.'"

Lalama and her husband, Eddy, are foster parents themselves, having taken in their first placements, whom she lovingly refers to her as her "beans," in July of this year.

"Even before I met my husband, I knew I wanted to be a foster parent," she said. "If I couldn't have a partner, I still wanted to be a mother.

"But then along came Eddy. We have had five children in our home so far, and it's a blast. Never once did I think of them as being 'different'; Eddy and I treated them as if they were are our own children.

"They just get a little extra love."

The only problem that Lalama and her team have experienced is a lack of foot traffic.

"I feel like a lot of people don't know about us, although we've been around for two years," Lalama said.

She also envisions a world where Fostering Hope holds community events, such as support groups, yoga sessions and other bonding opportunities with foster families in the area.

But for now, baby steps, she said.

"For now, we have to work backwards," she said. "We have to get people in our door and see what we do. To prove ourselves, in a way. To say 'Hey, we are out here for you.'"

You can learn more about Fostering Hope, including ways to help,by visiting their website.