"More Than a Bed" nonprofit provides free essentials for foster families

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Local nonprofit "More Than a Bed" is providing financial relief to foster families in Arizona which has approximately 10,000 kids in foster care, according to the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

Executive Director Grace Stockwell estimates the cost for a family to invite a child into their home ranges from eight-hundred dollars to two-thousand dollars, considering children might enter foster care with just the clothes on their back.

"Foster care is not a smiley type environment. It's not one of those feel-good stories because these kids are removed because of extreme conditions," Stockwell said.

She listed: "You have abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse from family members, on kids as young as five."

That's why Stockwell created the nonprofit, which served more than 1,000 families in 2023, providing foster families with brand-new clothes like socks, diapers and shoes for free, as well as essentials like baby gear, cribs and bottles.

Maria Staubs

"What we did was just try to do a little bit to bring a smile on their face to make them feel that they are valued. They're important." Stockwell said. "I want to make those children feel like they are special. And, they are."

Foster mom Barbara, who has fostered more than twenty kids in the past few years, regularly shops for essentials at the nonprofit with her family.

"I do a lot of infants and young children, so all the things that come with young children and that ranges from car seats to cribs to the crib mattresses, clothing, bottles, you know, it's kind of like having a child all over again," Barbara said.

The nonprofit allows parents like Barbara, who has been asked to take in multiple infants, to continue opening up their home.

"I was able to say yes because I knew that I had this resource that I could, you know, come and call upon," she said. "It's just a really rewarding thing to know that you're able to provide the love and stability that the children need in their life at that point so that you can support reunification with their family."

It gives Barbara a chance to give back without worrying about money.

“A lot of people are saying, 'Well, they get paid a monthly stipend from DCS or from the state,'" Stockwell said. "But, that's not enough to take care of a child's needs. They need school supplies, they need constant clothing books, reading, learning how to read,"

And, of course, Barbara's kids' favorite: toys.

Maria Staubs