May is National Foster Care Month

May is National Foster Care Month which is a time to celebrate caregivers and the system that makes foster care possible.

Every two minutes a child is placed into the foster care system. Currently, there are more than 400,000 children in the system at any given time. In Mississippi, there are approximately 4,000 children in foster care.

Elijah’s Closet, a nonprofit organization located in Gulfport, is committed to helping families with children in foster care as well as families with children susceptible to going into foster care.

The goal of Elijah’s Closet is to provide clothing and necessities to foster children of all ages from newborns all the way up to age 18. Elijah’s Closet President and Executive Director Nikki Williams said, “Children experience trauma from inside the womb. So, regardless of what age you take a child in your home, you’re going to be faced with dealing with issues of trauma. The thing with teenagers is that you just have to be able to put forth the time and effort to help them reverse the trauma that occurred to them.”

On Saturday, Elijah’s Closet will hold a diaper drive from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 14120 John Clark Road in Gulfport.