STUART – Communities Connected for Kids launched a community-wide foster-home recruitment campaign Saturday at its Third Annual 1K for Kids and Story Stroll.

Called #25by2025, the campaign’s goal is to recruit and license a minimum of 25 foster homes by Jan. 1, 2025 - homes that will help reverse a downward trend in the number of foster homes being licensed since the COVID pandemic.

Since 2020, the community has experienced a 58 percent decrease in homes in Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast, said Christina Kaiser, CCKids community relations director.

“We have many wonderful homes and nurturing caregivers, but it’s not enough to keep up with the number of children coming into care or the number of homes closing,” said Kaiser, adding that many caregivers close their homes after adopting or for related family reasons.

“We have too many children and teens in group care or placed in other parts of the state,” she said. “Twenty five new homes will be enough to start bringing them home.”

A more robust network of foster homes also makes it possible to keep siblings together and to keep children closer to their homes and schools while in foster care.

The #25by2025 campaign offers the community many opportunities to get involved in advocating for and recruiting homes, Kaiser said.

“We created a list of 25 ways to help – from sharing campaign information on social media to selecting foster-care themes for Book Club,” she said “Some of it might seem small, but one small act can make a huge difference — one connection can change the life of a child.”

That was the message Saturday morning at Port St. Lucie’s Hillmoor Lake Park, where CCKids launched the campaign as part of its 1K for Kids & Story Stroll.

Nearly 200 people registered for the event, which included a 1K interactive trail where walkers could use QR codes to learn more about the foster-care community.

Also at the event were several foster-parent licensing agencies and a series of celebration stations where participants could join the #ManicureMovement to raise awareness for the prevention of child abuse or record a 3-second video to celebrate families being reunified this summer.

Walkers also had the opportunity to join the Starfish Society, a special tier of giving for those who elevate their commitment to the #25by2025 campaign.

For a complete list of ways to help, or to join the campaign’s Starfish Society. visit our campaign site at cckids.net and then click the #25by2025 banner.