- For kids, the transition into
a foster home can be terrifying.
Their worlds have been turned upside down,
they're walking into an uncertain situation,
often with nothing to call their own.
For nearly two years, a pair of twin sisters in
Portland, Oregon, have worked tirelessly to
help ease that stress.
They provide boys and girls heading into
foster care new clothes, shoes, and toiletries.
They help the kids get all the basics that
they need to walk into their new situation with confidence,
and that makes them rad humans.
(applause) (upbeat music)
From Project 48, let's say hello to
Tanya and Brandy everybody.
(applause) (cheering)
Hi. - Hi.
- Hello.
- Well before we talk, ladies, about Project 48,
because obviously I want to talk about that,
but tell us a little bit about your family,
because you're a foster mom, right?
- I am a foster mom.
For the last almost nine years,
my husband and I have been foster parents,
and we have currently three bio kids of our own,
and we also have adopted three out of
the foster care system.
- Wow.
- And it's been a wild journey.
I mean, we sort of jumped in with both feet and
had zero knowledge of the system and how it worked,
had no plans to adopt,
and it's just turned out to be
an incredible experience so far.
- [Kelly] That's incredible.
What an amazing family that you've built,
that's so cool.
How much notice do you get before a
foster child joins your home?
- Pretty much little to none.
I mean, you get the phone call most of the time at
the point where a child is sitting there waiting for
a home to go to.
So you get like an age and a gender, and you say yes and
you're sort of left scrambling to set them up in your home.
I've made millions of nine o'clock Walgreens runs trying to
get things all put together and pulled together for
whatever child is coming.
And that's sort of the inspiration for Project 48,
are those moments.
- [Kelly] Yeah, just the real factor of what it is,
and you've experienced it, that's great.
That's the best kind of organization,
one that comes from truth.
Can you tell us a little about Project 48,
and what do you do?
- [Brandy] Yeah, Project 48 is a non profit, like you said,
we're in Portland, Oregon.
And we launched in the fall of 2019.
It really was inspired by my sister Tanya's journey in
foster care as a foster parent,
seeing kids come into care with next to nothing.
So we launched it,
we are serving kids seven to 18.
And we provide them with a bag of brand new,
high quality essential items as soon as
they're coming into care.
Really within that first 48 hour time frame,
and that's kind of what the name comes from,
is we really feel like that first 48 hours
is really crucial,
and it's a really vulnerable time for these kids.
They've been in trauma,
and just to give them some brand new items that
are their very own is really important to us.
- Absolutely, something to call their own,
that's so important.
What sorts of items do you provide them?
- Each bag that we give to a kiddo has some brand new,
it's all brand new items, and it has sweat pants, t-shirts,
sweat shirts, brand new shoes, socks, underwear.
They get a hygiene bin that has all of
the little essential items that they need there,
fresh toothpaste, things like that.
And then a journal.
And we really emphasize the brand new items.
We're moms, we have teenagers,
we know how clothing plays such a huge part in
just that confidence, I don't know,
just sense of identity for kids.
So to give these kiddos name brand tags on them clothing,
shoes in a box, Nike shoes,
it's really been a huge part of our vision
that we won't veer from.
We don't do hand me downs or donations that are used.
We are just really excited to give the kids brand new items.
- [Kelly] Yeah, I get that.
I mean, I grew up on hand me downs,
but also in this circumstance, I think it's really cool that
it is something that wasn't from somebody else,
this was specially for you.
I think that says a lot.
And the bags are all customized, right, to each kid?
- Yeah, so Brandy created an amazing online order platform
where DHS and our community partners,
they go online as soon as they have the information about
their youth, and they custom order this bag that's age,
gender, culturally appropriate for this youth.
And it gets packed and delivered within that
48 hour time frame, so it's all pretty simple.
Tanya and Brandy, so how did kids and
foster parents react when they get the bags?
- It's just an overwhelming positive response.
These kids are so grateful.
Some of these items they're getting,
they've never had a new sweat shirt or
a pair of brand new shoes.
And so they...
We had a kid it blew his mind, is what the case worker said,
that he had gotten this bag of things.
It just gives them this opportunity to
feel like they're seen and cared about,
so obviously the response from that is pretty amazing.
- That's so cool.
Well we actually have a foster mom dialed in
who says Project 48 was a life saver for her this year.
Let's welcome Mallory everybody, give it up for Mallory.
(applause)
Hi.
- Hi.
- [Kelly] Hello.
So you're a first time foster mom, right?
- [Mallory] I am, I am.
And earlier this month, it was a Monday morning,
I had a 12 year old teenage girl show up on my doorstep.
She had maybe three or four brown paper bags
with very little in them.
It's winter time here, of course,
and she didn't even have a winter coat.
So she really had pretty much nothing.
I received a call later on that day from Brandy,
my case worker, connected with us,
and we all had a conversation about
my foster daughter's likes, and her dislikes,
her sizes, her favorite colors.
And Brandy really took the time to learn about
my foster daughter and what she really needed.
- That's so amazing.
I mean, how did she react when she got the bag?
- She was beside herself.
As we were unpacking the bags in her bedroom,
she started unpacking the socks, and all the pairs of socks,
and she started to tear up.
She told me she had never had this many pairs of
socks in her life,
and she just couldn't believe that
somebody in the community, somebody she didn't know,
would think of her in this way.
And the clothing, too, really served as that
first moment for her and I,
in those first couple days to relax and
unwind in this, honestly, awkward situation.
New kiddo in my house, first time foster parent,
but the clothes gave us that chance to
just get to know each other and have conversations.
And it gave her, I think, an opportunity to
have new clothes,
but really as she's unpacking the clothes and
putting her clothes in her dresser, in her closet,
knowing that this was her home.
And she was safe and she was cared for and loved.
- And that's all so huge.
Mallory, I know that there's something that
you wanted to tell Tanya and Brandy, right?
- There really is.
Just to the both of you, thank you so much.
You don't know us, you don't know my foster daughter,
you don't know me, but what you gave us that day was just
the basic necessity of clothes.
So as a foster mom, it took one less thing out of
my head in those first dew days,
that I had to worry about for her.
And we could focus on her next steps,
getting her back enrolled in school and
getting her safe and healthy.
But really just to all the foster kids who
usually come to homes, as you said, with so little,
because they've had so many moves.
Usually it's in brown paper bags,
and now she has a brand new backpack that
she can put her things in.
So just thank you so much for everything you did, for us,
but really everything you did and are
doing for our community, for our foster kids.
(applause)
- [Kelly] Well I have some good news.
We actually reached out to our friends at Lulu's,
a women's fashion brand,
that carries all your trendy must haves,
but to help you keep foster care girls in
clothes that they can feel good about.
They're actually going to donate a $5,000 gift card to you,
to Project 48, to help out.
And that's not all.
Actually, they want to help with any other supplies that
you may need, so they're also donating $5,000 in
cash to your foundation, just to help out.
(applause) (cheering)
So we love that we get to be a vessel for that,
because it's such a beautiful,
wonderful thing that you're doing.
And especially, I can't even imagine, Mallory,
this being a first time situation for you.
And like you said, it can be awkward and overwhelming,
and you want to do everything right.
Every parent does, in any parental form,
you want to do everything right.
So it's a beautiful thing that y'all
are doing for the community.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and
your lovely hearts with everyone.
(applause)
- Appreciate it. - Thank you so much, Kelly.
- Thank you. - [Kelly] Absolutely.