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Nonprofit works to keep kids in safe foster care homes

The Knoxville Angels organization launched in July, which aims to support foster care families in East Tennessee.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After getting married in 2016, Andre and Holly Holloway wanted to do more.

"We thought how can we serve and what does it look like to serve locally," Holly said. 

After discussing ideas, they decided to become foster parents.

"We knew that the need was there," Holly said. 

The Holloways are one of less than 4,000 families willing to take in children in Tennessee. Over the last two years they've seen several children come and go, an experience Knoxville Angels president Bethany Yandell said is really hard on kids.

"A lot of times these kids move on average six times every year," Yandell said. 

According to Yandell, that movement can also follow students inside the classroom. 

"Every time they move, they fall behind six months in school," she said. 

Some agencies report children moving even more, but that is where Yandell's nonprofit Knoxville Angels is hoping to fill a void.

"So one of the things we try to do is support foster families so we don't see some of that turn over," she said. 

After launching in July, The Angels have supported several families by connecting them with resources and offering them a little love in a box.

"We match a community volunteer group with a local foster family and volunteers give the family a box of whatever they need most," she said.

Credit: Gabrielle Hays

While it sounds simple, Yandell said it means more to families than you may think. 

"Honestly, it's so much more than the box," she said. 

With nearly 8,000 children in the Tennessee foster care system. Yandell said  there is a lot of work to be done.

"There are difficult times in this," she said. 

But as long as more people commit to the issue, she's hoping more children will get the support they need.

"They have a group of people to call on and say help me through this," she said.


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