Local residents helping raise kids can receive free food, necessities

Many people in Ozark County have opened their hearts and homes to children who are not biologically their own. Now, those families have better access to a program to help support them. 

Sammy’s Window, a program of FosterAdopt Connect, has officially opened a new distribution center in Gainesville, expanding its mission to provide essential items to any family caring for a child or teenager who is not biologically their own.

The Gainesville distribution center, headed up by volunteer and local resident Holly Uchtman, offers those families free monthly care packages that can be picked up once a month at the Options Pregnancy building, just off the Gainesville square. 

The free packages can include food, hygiene products, household products such as paper towels and toilet paper, diapers and wipes, formula and more. 

The organization can also provide new or gently used clothing, carseats, shoes, books, toys, baby equipment, school supplies and other necessities as they are needed.

Quarterly, families who are enrolled in Sammy’s Window will receive new socks and underwear for each child or teen in the program.

Currently, the Sammy’s Window program has around a dozen families in Ozark County participating, all of which have enrolled in the last four or five months thanks to the dedicated work of Holly and other FosterAdopt Connect staff. 

The organization is now hoping that word will spread here, and other local families who can benefit from the services can participate. 

How it all began

FosterAdopt Connect began in 1998 when a group of dedicated foster parents came together with the need for stronger support, training and companionship as they navigated the difficult and rewarding work of parenting children in foster care. 

“Many felt isolated and ill-equipped to prove the most loving care for kids who had experienced abuse and neglect,” the website fosteradopt.org says. “As more and more families were drawn to the support and advocacy offered by the group, it quickly matured into FosterAdopt Connect...”

The organization serves most of Missouri and some of Kansas. It has locations in Independence, Kansas City, Kansas, Branson, Cape Girardeau, Chillicothe, Hannibal, Jackson, Joplin, Kirksville, Lawrence, Kansas, Macon, Mountain Grove, Pittsburg, Kansas, Poplar Bluff, Springfield and Wichita, Kansas. 

Finding a local need in Ozark County

The first mention of FosterAdopt Connect in the Ozark County Times came in September 2024 when an article was printed about former Gainesville resident Chris Berger accepting a new position to become the executive director of the FosterAdopt Connect Springfield branch. Berger, who grew up in Gainesville and was later employed as a teacher at Gainesville Elementary, was raised by his uncle and aunt, Bob and Peg Robbins. He said he’d love to see those from his hometown benefit from the program, as he knows there is a high need for services here.

Around the same time, FosterAdopt Connect Advocate Brenda Keith visited an Ozark County Substance Abuse Task Force meeting last fall to give task force members an overview of FosterAdopt Connect and what it can provide to area residents.  

Holly Uchtman, who is an active member of the OCSATF, said that she immediately wanted to be a part of the effort to bring those services to more Ozark Countians, because, like Berger and so many others here, she also had family members who helped raise her. 

“When we separated into groups at the task force meeting, everybody needed to pick something they wanted to work on, and this was just something that was really personal to me with my upbringing,” Holly told the Times. “It’s something I knew I wanted to bring to this town.”

Holly learned that the Mountain Grove branch of FosterAdopt Connect oversees Ozark County. It also serves Wright, Douglas, Howell, Oregon, Shannon and Carter Counties. 

Holly volunteered to head up the Gainesville distribution center and be the local contact for Sammy’s Window here to make the service more accessible to those living in Ozark County. “Holly’s been great at pushing our Sammy’s Window program out there to people in Ozark County,” Mountain Grove Branch Manager Carla Randall said. 

Kinship Navigator Vanetta Gray also attended the Gainesville School District’s back-to-school fair last fall, hoping to help spread the word about the program and its free services there.

Who qualifies for the program?

While it is widely known that FosterAdopt Connect’s programs are open to adoptive and foster parents, many do not realize that it is also available to any person who is the primary caregiver of a teen or child under the age of 18 who lives within their home and is not their biological child. 

“Our name can be a little misleading,” Carla said. “People hear the foster and adoption,  but they miss the ‘connect’ part, and that is kinship... grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, aunts and uncles who are raising their nieces and nephews, siblings raising siblings... it can even be neighbors or teachers who take in a child... that’s kinship and the ‘connect’ part of our logo and our name. Foster and adoption, that’s pretty self-explanatory. The connect part is what we’re really trying to get out there.”

It is important to emphasize that the kinship classification does not require fostering or adoption - or any court interaction for custody or guardianship. It’s simply being the primary caregiver of a child who is not the adult’s biological child. The other qualification is that the biological parents of the child cannot be living in the home too.

What does participation in the program look like

Those who meet that criteria within Ozark County, can contact Holly Uchtman on Facebook or call the Mountain Grove branch of FosterAdpot Connect (417-349-6744) to inquire about services. Holly or a staff member will explain what services are available. They’ll also send a short registration form to be filled out. 

“And as soon as they send that back, I’m immediately able to get them, at the very least, a bag of food, toilet paper and paper towels,” Holly said. Those bags, along with other regular monthly Sammy’s Window care packages, will need to be picked up by clients. Holly says that currently, regular care packages of food, hygiene and household items are being distributed between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays from Options Pregnancy, located off the southwest corner of the square on Third Street, a couple of doors down from Michelle’s Shear Artistry. 

Families who could use the other items offered: diapers, carseats, clothes, toys, shoes, baby equipment, school supplies and other items, can tell Holly, who will then arrange to receive those items from the Mountain Grove branch to be available for pick up. 

At first, Chanda Box, Direct Services Specialist, was sending care packages down as needed for new clients, but recently the organization has designated the Gainesville location as a distribution center. Now pallets of goods will be unloaded in Gainesville, giving Holly more access to things as people need them. Ozark Countians and others in nearby areas can also be serviced through the district office in Mountain Grove if that is a more convenient location for them than Gainesville.

For those clients who fall under the “kinship” category, the organization’s kinship navigator, Vaneeta Gray, will also meet with the family periodically to offer support and to help connect them with any other resources they might qualify for. The staff emphasizes that the kinship navigator is there as a support and aid to the families who are involved with the FosterAdopt Connect program.

Overall, staff are thrilled with the uptick in participation from Ozark Countians in the program this winter, and they hope that more awareness in this area will lead to more families getting the support they need. 

“We had our first family from Gainesville [sign up for the program] three to four months ago, and now we have 11 families [that have been registered] since August,” Chanda said. “We just want to let people know about the services and that we’re here if they need us.”

Donations are accepted

FosterAdopt Connect is a 501c3, non-profit organization, and donations that are made are tax-deductible. 

The organization does receive most of its funding from a state LINC contract, but it also relies on donation drives from individuals, area churches and organizations who contribute hygiene products, household goods, food and more. 

Currently, the organization says that socks and underwear, sized infant to adult, are the biggest needs. Contact Holly to arrange donations that will be distributed locally to Ozark Countians through Sammy’s Window.

Find out more

Find out more by calling the Mountain Grove branch at 417-349-3744, visiting fosteradopt.org or “FosterAdopt Connect Mountain Grove” on Facebook.

Holly also encourages local residents to attend the Ozark County Substance Abuse Task Force meetings. The meetings are held at 6 p.m. the second Tuesday of every month at the First Baptist Church Event Center (former senior center) on Third Street in Gainesville. Task force members happily invite everyone to the meetings, as they are open to the public.