DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Hundreds of kids in the U.S. enter foster care every day. Most of these children must pack up in minutes, with no way to take personal items with them.
It’s a scenario near and dear to Monique Howell’s heart. She’s worked at Webster-Cantrell Hall for just shy of a decade. The best thing that's happened to her while on the job, she said, is becoming a foster parent herself.
"Being the case worker, you don't take it as personal, but once I became a foster parent I actually lived through the experience because I have foster children, so each experience now, I treat it as if it's the foster child in my home," Howell explained.
For that reason, Howell has transitioned from being a case worker to training others to be case workers in Macon County. Howell said one of the hardest things to walk a child through is uprooting them from the place they call home.
"It's spur of the moment,” she recalled. “They're packing up their most memorable items such as a teddy bear, a piece of clothing, maybe a photo from their birth family, so it's definitely just spur of the moment. You can't grab everything."
Howell said these foster kids often feel unwanted or thrown aside, and to add insult to injury, kids then have to pile their belongings in a trash bag.
"Feeling like you belong somewhere. Feeling like you're wanted. Feeling like this family wants you to stay and a lot of time that does not happen,” Howell said. “The feeling of not belonging anywhere and not feeling normal, we see that every day, and that is a real issue."
Howell said for anyone cleaning out their closets in the new year, Webster-Cantrell Hall is always taking gently used suitcases, duffel bags and book bags.
"The normalcy is exactly the key. If you look around you know, kids, they have duffel bags. They have even the duffel bags actually work better than the suitcases, because it's that sense of normalcy they don't look like they're a foster child, they don't look like they're moving from one home to another,” Howell explained. “So with the duffel bag, it's easily able to be put under the bed or hung up in the closet or easily stored."
Any donations can be dropped off at Webster-Cantrell Hall Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. WAND News reached out to Macon County CASA. Leaders there said they do not have the space to store luggage, and urged people to donate suitcases to Webster-Cantrell Hall and Lutheran Child and Family Services.
There's also a national organization called Comfort Cases. It gives suitcases packed with pajamas and a few personal items to foster kids. To learn more about the organization, click here.
Another organization that can benefit from luggage donations is the Northeast Community Fund.
WAND News spoke with executive director Ed Bacon. He said when blessing others through gently used luggage, mobility is huge.
"Carrying a 40 or 50-pound, maybe a 60-pound box of food is really difficult if you're trying to get onto a bus or walking. Sometimes they come on a bicycle, so when we identify that need, we're able to help them out with some luggage," Bacon said.
Bacon said suitcases with wheels are most helpful. They can be donated at the Northeast Community Fund Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
