HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Kids to Love Foundation has received a generous gift from Matt Curtis Real Estate that will directly impact Kids to Love’s ability to help children placed in foster care.
Matt Curtis Real Estate is investing $100,000 in Kids to Love’s Child Placing Agency, specifically supporting case managers who work to match foster families with children in care.
A $50,000 check presentation took place Tuesday at the Kids to Love Center in Madison. Matt Curtis has committed the other $50,000 over the next year as part of Matt Curtis Real Estate’s Love Thy Neighbor program.
“We’re thankful and humbled that God has opened up the door to serve alongside the mission of Lee Marshall and Kids to Love,” Matt Curtis said. “Our vision at Matt Curtis Real Estate has been to model our service after the great commission of Acts 1:8 in serving our team, our clients, our community and the world.
Also underway is the Kids to Love "Christmas for the Kids" gift drive.
“Jesus had a heart for the children, the poor, and the widows, so these are the areas of service that we focus on. There’s a big need for our local community, state and nation in serving our kids that are without homes. Since we are in the home business, we are excited to announce that for every 50 homes we sell, our clients will be helping bring a child home.”
The need to find foster families for children is great. There are more than 6,000 children in foster care in Alabama, but only about 2,300 foster homes.
Kids to Love has been working to change that, especially since becoming a licensed Child Placing Agency in the state of Alabama in September 2021. The Kids to Love team can train foster families anywhere in the state of Alabama through online Trauma Informed Partnering Safety (TIPS) classes, and then place children in the care of those families.
Kids to Love has rapidly expanded its Child Placing Agency since its inception to bring in more case managers and therapists to work with the children that come into their care.
“Our Child Placing Agency is growing fast, and we are still expanding,” said Kids to Love Founder and CEO Lee Marshall. “It is so important to get children in homes with loving families and keep them out of group homes. This amazing gift from Matt Curtis will go directly to our efforts to put more children with the families that we train and work with daily to meet their children’s needs.”
In addition to Kids to Love’s Child Placing Agency, the Foundation also has a number of programs to aid children and foster families. Kids to Love’s Emergency Assistance and Christmas for the Kids programs provide children with toys, clothes and school supplies. Kids to Love also operates Davidson Farms, a home for girls ages 7-19, and the Whitaker Cottage Community for young women who have aged out of the foster care system.