Because of you, dear donor, 2025 was a record-breaking year for 4Montgomery’s Kids!
We have supported over 2,600 children in foster care since our founding. That milestone is a testament to your generosity and belief in our mission.
Children and families in foster care face needs that County and State funding simply cannot cover. Won’t you help us continue this vital work with an end-of-year donation?
We provide routine support that creates normalcy and hope, for example:
- Education: Special rewards for outstanding academic achievements.
- Family Connection: Helping families connect, reunify, and ensuring separated siblings can spend time together.
- Enrichment: Paying for after-school music and art classes, as well as sports equipment and team fees.
- Summer Experiences: Funding summer camps, including those specializing in care for children with disabilities.
- Emergency Backstops: Providing crucial assistance for emergency transportation to jobs and school, and for stop-gap utility or food payments.
- Milestones: Funding for prom and graduation outfits, and beautiful quinceañera dresses.
- Futures: Up to $1,000 college and technical school scholarships.
- Boost: For the second year in a row, we are giving $600 per month for one year to youth who have aged out of foster care. With this Boost, we aim to ease their transition to young adulthood.
These payments are our foundation, but we also fund critical life-changing ‘one-offs:’
- Project Turkey: We collaborated on ‘Project Turkey’ to ensure families involved in Child Welfare enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner filled with comfort and tradition. We helped 60 families and more than 100 children and youth this year!
- The Power of a Pedal: A young girl lost her leg in an earthquake before coming to America. She then found herself in foster care. Her teenage dream was to drive like her friends. We funded a unique accelerator pedal that fit her prosthetics, giving her independence.
- A Mother’s Determination: A mother of three was determined to reunify with her children who had been removed from her home. She secured a job, but her plan derailed when her car broke down. We stepped in, paying for a substantial repair. She returned to work, and within months, her children were back in her care.
These are the moments you make possible. Please donate now to continue our collective good work!
What do you do if you’re a foster youth stuck in a bus station with no way to get home and no money for food? You call 4Montgomery’s Kids. Within an hour, we had an Uber card on its way.
Or what if you suddenly need transportation to get to a family emergency? Once again, we were able to step in right away.
Most of the time, we turn around requests in less than 24 hours. But this month, these two urgent calls for immediate transportation came in with just one hour’s notice. Because of your support, both ended with a positive outcome instead of escalating into a crisis.
Summer and back-to-school time can also bring other challenges for kids in foster care. But this year with your help, we were able to:
- Send eleven kids to summer camp and make it possible for one child to take a trip to Florida with her foster family.
- Provide four computers for schoolwork and to help youth stay connected with siblings and parents.
- Cover transportation needs like car insurance, Uber cards, and Metro passes so kids could get to work or visit family.
- Boost self-confidence with cosmetics and hair supplies for prom and back-to-school.
- Supply sports equipment for camp and school team participation.
We also just wrapped up the first year of our guaranteed income program, Boost, and are continuing the program this year, with nine additional young adults who are aging out of foster care. They each will receive $600 a month for a full year—giving them some much-needed financial stability, (or a boost), as they take initial steps toward independence.
Our first year recipients have told us:
- “I feel fantastic! I am now employed full time and am very grateful for the opportunity to receive the monthly stipend,”
- the stipend went a long way and even prevented two evictions,
- it provided peace of mind,
- it allowed for a greater opportunity to focus on educational and employment goals.
And finally, looking ahead, we’re once again teaming up with the residents of Ingleside in Rockville for Thanksgiving. Together, we’ll provide Giant gift cards so families in the child welfare system can celebrate the holiday with a special meal. Last year, we helped 100 families!
We’re so grateful to you—our donors and friends—for making all this possible. Every ride, every meal, every camp experience, every boost of confidence happens because of your generosity.
Board of Directors – 4Montgomery’s Kids
Cynde Burgess, Ronna Cook, Alan Kraut, Agnes Leshner, Leslie Shedlin
4Montgomery’s Kids has just closed the books on our ninth year, and what a year it has been! We provided resources for over 300 children and we are closing it by awarding scholarships to fifteen students. We could not be more grateful to you, our amazing donors, for making this possible. We hope you will keep us in your gift giving plans.
Scholarships
Once again, we at 4MK were thrilled to be able to offer scholarships, ranging from $500 – $1,000, to high school graduates in foster care who are pursuing further education either in college or a trade. This year we were able to give 15 scholarships. Here are just some of the exemplary students we are supporting.
- B completed most of her credits a semester early (earning straight A’s!) and used the abbreviated school schedule to gain work experience. She has experienced extensive trauma in her life and wants to become a nurse so she can continue to help others as she has already throughout her life. She plans to work as a Certified Nursing Assistant while she pursues her nursing degree and is training over the summer to make this possible.
- From a very early age, S has had to overcome severe obstacles. He got into trouble but completed treatment and is back on track. While in treatment, he graduated from high school, completing two years of school in eight months. He plans to attend trade school to become a plumber and create a better life for himself.
- G is a straight-A student who has been on honor roll throughout high school and was recently inducted into the National Honor Society. He has been involved with a variety of afterschool programs, including one that focuses on community service and engagement. He plans to major in math, science, or engineering.
- J is the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Not only has she worked almost continuously with tutors and teachers to ensure that she was successful in academics, but she has spent the last two years in activities that build social connections and created more support among her Latino community.
- R has plans to attend college out of state and so will not be eligible for the tuition waiver otherwise available to high school graduates in the child welfare system. Even though she only recently entered foster care with all the life changes that has meant, she nonetheless was able to complete high school on time, get her driver’s license, and sought and has held down a job.
- While C was in high school, she managed her own nail business. Her goal is to become a licensed nail technician. The scholarship money will allow her to complete a nail certification program.
- We were also able to assist a deserving young woman with a special high school scholarship. She was accepted into an elite private school known for its rigorous academics, where she also plans to join the track team. She already has had athletic success on a national level. Attending this school is a rare opportunity but a large financial commitment for her foster family. What an honor to be able to help her out.
For Love of Turtles
It was one of our more unique requests. First, what do you think of when you think of stress reducing pets? Maybe a service dog? Well for K. who was transitioning out of care and moving from a group home to her first apartment and starting a new job, it is her treasured four small turtles.
These big steps were exciting but challenging for K, and the turtles helped her get through them. But turtle care – frequent cleaning and maintenance of the tank is critical, along with the use of proper filters – is critical, and it is not cheap! (Who knew?)
Imagine K’s delight and relief when 4Montgomery’s Kids provided her with the funds to care for her beloved pets.
Camp
This time of year brings requests for a variety of after school and summer programs. So far this year – and we expect more requests to come – we are sending twelve children to summer programs and we provided seven children with after school activities. The camp experiences include traditional sleep-away camp, special-needs camps, sports- themed programs and dance camp. We wish them all a fantastic, fun-filled summer.
Beyond the turtle, in this fiscal year, approximately 20% of our grants to children involved education, 11% involved transportation, 15% supported recreational activities, 1% were housing-related, and 53% were for a combination of personal and household needs. Most notably, we were able to fill every request we received – no child or family was denied the assistance they sought. And, it is all due to your generosity.
4MK Excellence Awards for Graduating Seniors
This year 4MK gave $500 and $1000 grants to deserving graduating seniors in foster care to help launch the next phase of their lives. We have been awed by the creative ways these young adults have used the funds to help fulfill their dreams. Here are a few examples:
- L is taking both college and study skills courses as prerequisites to a nursing degree. Public transportation is limited near her, so she is putting the money toward a first car as an easier way to get to multiple classes.
- J was accepted into an out-of-state university known for its College of Education. She is now a freshman majoring in Early Childhood and is using her funds to lower out of pocket school expenses.
- S is taking a break from school but is now in the process of applying for a technical degree. In the interim she has used her award to invest in her own business.
Spotlight: Marie Schwartz
Marie Schwartz retired from Child Welfare Services after 37 years of providing much needed services to the most vulnerable groups in Montgomery County. You would think that kind of dedication over a lifetime would have been enough for anyone. Not for Marie. Marie now lives at Ingleside, a retirement community in Rockville, and for the past two years she has reached out to Ingleside residents for donations to 4MK for Project Turkey. Marie not only made Project Turkey happen but she partnered with 4Montgomery’s Kids to expand the reach of her good deeds.
Project Turkey
Thanks to the generous support of 51 residents of Ingleside Retirement Community in Rockville, Md, 4MK is providing $100 gift certificates to 72 families to help them create a special Thanksgiving dinner. These are families where the children are being kept in the their homes with intensive support from child and family services, a program designed to help prevent these children from being placed into foster care.
We wish these families a joyous and bountiful Thanksgiving. Thank you residents of Ingleside and Marie Schwartz for your care and compassion
Who doesn’t love a birthday party, right? Or at least a present on the big day? But too often for children in foster care the special nature of the day is forgotten. We at 4MK cannot let that happen. No one deserves to be forgotten.
Among the many ways we celebrated our kids this year, we provided funds for a birthday party for a child in a hospital, a birthday party and reunion at Dave and Busters for a family’s first big event after the child went into foster care, a birthday trip to the movies for a youth and her younger sister, and a party at Sky Zone for a family moving toward reunification.
We also gave gifts to help a teen turning 15 feel accepted and appreciated at her quinceanera, Legos and beach toys for a child moving to a new placement near the ocean, a gift card for a teen who did not receive a gift from her mother or her group home, a basketball jersey and more for a budding athlete, a Spiderman outfit for a huge Spidey fan, and hair extensions to make a young woman feel special on her special day. We even gave a gift card to a youth in foster care to buy a birthday present for a friend.
After all, who doesn’t love a good birthday!!
Please help us celebrate more children in foster care!!!
TEN YEARS!!! It’s hard to believe it has been 10 years of 4Montgomery’s Kids providing the children in Montgomery County’s foster care system with things no one else could pay for. We helped more than 2,000 children and youth over those ten years by providing things like gifts for birthdays that might have been forgotten, paying for summer camps and after-school activities, furnishing apartments and assisting with rent, rewarding major accomplishments, helping families reunite, and so much more.
n our first year, we could only afford to help 36 children; by our tenth year, that number soared to an astonishing 364! All while ensuring that 100% of your donations go directly to helping those children, teens, and young adults who are the most vulnerable among us.
In 2017, we expanded to giving partial scholarships to those going on to college or trade school. Since then, we’ve awarded 48 scholarships, increasing from just two in 2017 to an impressive 15 in 2023.
And we kept at it when the nation was hit by a pandemic. As our amazing county social workers continued to stay in touch with these children, 4Montgomery’s Kids bought them laptops, books, school supplies, and more so they could stay connected to school.
Thanks to you, our generous donors, we have been able to better meet the needs of these children each year. In the beginning, we had to limit our grants to a maximum of $250 each. Today, we fund every deserving request we get.
As social workers have told us:
“4MK provides social workers with a rare opportunity to say ‘yes’ to needs that enhance a child’s well-being in a tangible way.”
“My work (and all of Child Welfare Services) is so much better because of 4MK!”
But we have more work to do. So long as children remain in foster care, their needs will persist. The power to make a difference lies in your hands. Let’s keep the momentum going! Please give generously and here’s to the next 10 years of hope and change!
You have been in foster care for years – removed from your biological family because of abuse and neglect. You’ve rotated through multiple placements, through group homes and residential treatment centers. Suddenly you find yourself out at 21 with only the support you can muster on your own.
That was true for some of the most vulnerable kids who aged out of foster care in Montgomery County last year. This time we at 4Montgomery’s Kids were there to help.
Research shows that abruptly ending support on a 21st birthday abandons young people just when they need critical assistance. It ignores threats of homelessness, cuts education when many are still in school, disrupts mental health services for those coping with histories of trauma and abuse, and plunges a young parent and their children into poverty.
Using this research, and after talking with experts at the University of Pennsylvania, in Los Angeles, and colleagues in Prince George’s County, 4Montgomery’s Kids embarked on a Pilot Guaranteed Income Program. Nine youth were identified to receive $600 a month for one year – no strings attached.
Those identified were initially interviewed about their working, living, educational, and emotional states. They will be interviewed again at 6 and 12 months to see if the money has made a difference in their lives.
Throughout the year, we’ll partner with Empowering the Ages to provide mentorship. Empowering the Ages, another Montgomery County nonprofit, will work with our nine on getting county services, applying and interviewing for jobs, and basics like getting a checking account and keeping track of spending.
We will report what we find to you, our donors. But already one young woman has said our funding has prevented an eviction, gotten her job training, and put her in a full-time job. She reports, “I feel amazing!”
Our pilot is being funded solely by the 4MK board. Since the program goes beyond anything we’ve ever asked of you, we felt it was important not to spend your funds before we told you about it.
Now you know!! Know, too, that our program is one of only three we could find anywhere devoted exclusively to those aging out of foster care.
We hope to continue and even expand our Guaranteed Income Program. For that, we need your support. You have been so generous to 4MK in the past. We know you will generously support this new program, as well.[1]
[1] Of course we are also staying true to our core mission. The approaching end of the school year will mean sending kids to summer camp and our annual scholarships for deserving graduates who are attending college and trade schools. But that and more is for our next newsletter.
