A group of local women established the Rita J. Bicknell Women’s Health Fund at CFSEK in 2007 to improve health and wellness for women across Southeast Kansas. Since then, the Women’s Health Fund has granted over $400,000 to support initiatives helping women and girls throughout the region.
One of those recipients, who serves at-risk girls and boys is Fostering Connections. They are a faith-based organization that seeks to enhance the lives of children in foster care in Southeast Kansas. Lacy Nickelson is the founder and executive director.
Table of Contents
The why and what of Fostering Connections
“My husband and I opened our home in 2017 to children in police protective custody and have never looked back,” Nickelson said. “We started with a foster and adoptive mom’s coffee group and just grew from there.”
Nickelson saw a need for more support systems in place for foster kids in SEK, so she founded Fostering Connections. The organization provides support services to adoptive and foster families, as well as foster children, with a particular interest in helping those children aging out of the foster care system. They are actively working on a new system for teens aging out to be connected with a caring adult to help them in their day-to-day lives.
In the SEK region that Fostering Connections serves, children are often removed from the home when there is an issue.
“If you don’t know about the issues some of these kids have faced, you would never know. Our goal is to let them know that they are loved and cared for while in their new homes,” said Nickelson.
Grants mean growth
Fostering Connections is a 501(c)(3) organization, but they are not state or federally funded, so all of their funds come from direct donations and grants.
“So much of our growth since 2018 has been thanks to grants,” Nickelson said. “They are invaluable to our work! We are so grateful to CFSEK and all our donors that help us help children!”
The 2024 Women’s Health Fund grant cycle is open for applications until midnight September 30. Applications are available at SoutheastKansas.org/Grant-App.
About CFSEK grants
The Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas awarded over $2 million in grants from all foundation funds in 2023 and has facilitated over $23 million in total granting to Southeast Kansas since it was founded in 2001.
CFSEK serves the region by encouraging charitable giving to address present and future needs in our area. The Columbus, Fort Scott, and Girard Area Community Foundations are affiliates of CFSEK.