Photo courtesy of Susan Rosati

Auberle Foster Care is in need of foster families on the Northside for children and young adults from the area so they can stay within their communities and school districts.

Susan Rosati, program manager for Auberle Foster Care, said it is very important for the kids in foster care to have stability when they are going through a trying time.

Rosati said there is a misconception about foster children that they tend to have more baggage or will cause issues because they are at-risk.

“People think they’re bad kids, but they’re not. Its kids you know and see every day,” Rosati said.

Single or married, gay or straight, 25 or 82; any individual is able to become a foster parent as long as they are over 21. What the children need, Rosati said, is “somebody who cares if they do their homework; someone to eat pizza with.”

“They need a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves.”

Families or individuals can also become a respite foster family, where a family will step in to take care of a foster child or children for a short time if there is an emergency.

Auberle is also looking for business partners that can hang flyers or other materials to help spread the word for the critical need of foster families in the Northside. Including the 18 NS neighborhoods, Wilkinsburg, McKees Rocks, and Penn Hills are also areas that are in great need of foster families.

Auberle serves over 3,400 at-risk children and families each year is 16 program areas, primarily in eight Southwestern Pennsylvania counties.

“We have helped thousands of children and their families through our residential care, foster care, emergency shelter, in-home intervention, education, workforce development, drug and alcohol and mental health programs,” Rosati said in an email.

Find out more information on becoming a foster family, respite, or helping in another way, contact Jeanne Burger at 412-779-0322, or e-mail jeanneb@auberle.org.