{"id":301411,"date":"2026-06-09T15:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/301411\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T15:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:35:10","slug":"from-crisis-to-comfort-volunteers-renovate-emergency-home-for-foster-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/301411\/","title":{"rendered":"From crisis to comfort: Volunteers renovate emergency home for foster youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A South Florida emergency shelter serving children entering foster care <\/a>received a major makeover thanks to the efforts of community volunteers determined to make a difficult transition a little easier.<\/p>\n

ChildNet and local partners recently unveiled renovations to one of the organization’s emergency placement homes, a space used to house children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment while they await a more permanent placement.<\/p>\n

The renovated home primarily serves teenagers and children with complex needs who often face longer waits for foster placements.<\/p>\n

“Typically teenagers, and typically kids with really complex needs and challenges, that we have real difficulty finding an appropriate placement for,” said Larry Rein with ChildNet.<\/p>\n

Volunteers from Leadership Broward spearheaded the project, transforming the space with fresh paint, cleaned floors, updated furnishings, and a brighter design intended to make children feel more comfortable during an uncertain time.<\/p>\n

“They all have one thing in common, I noticed, and that’s that they shouldn’t be here, but they are,” said Christina Bhim of Leadership Broward. “It’s a blessing that those children do have a place like this to come to in an emergency situation.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A South Florida emergency shelter serving children entering foster care received a major makeover thanks to the efforts of community volunteers determined to make a difficult transition a little easier. (ForeverFamily)<\/p>\n

Bhim said volunteers wanted to create an environment that felt welcoming rather than institutional.<\/p>\n

“We painted all of the walls, the doors, we sanded the doors, we had the floors cleaned, we had the entire home cleaned,” she said. “We put a design together, colors, we wanted it to feel bright, be a place that you wanted to come to so that it felt maybe more like an adventure than a place you had to be. Maybe it’s a place you want to be, at least for a little while.”<\/p>\n

The renovation effort extended beyond cosmetic improvements.<\/p>\n

Community groups helped purchase items from a shelter wish list, while students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School organized a book drive that filled the home’s shelves.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A South Florida emergency shelter serving children entering foster care received a major makeover thanks to the efforts of community volunteers determined to make a difficult transition a little easier. (ForeverFamily)<\/p>\n

According to Bhim, members of J.M. Family Enterprises’ Rising Leaders Group organized the donation campaign and purchased every item on the shelter’s wish list within a day.<\/p>\n

The donations included books, storage units, and recreational items such as a new air hockey table.<\/p>\n

“This team, I’ve got staff crying over how amazing the work that they’ve done,” Rein said.<\/p>\n

See also: Navy base employee in critical condition after shark attack in Florida Panhandle<\/a><\/p>\n

Child welfare advocates say community support plays a critical role in helping children navigate some of the most difficult moments of their lives.<\/p>\n

For more information about helping children in foster care or to read additional Forever Family stories, visit ForeverFamily.org<\/a>. The Forever Family franchise in partnership with CBS12 News, ChildNet and The Boca Raton.<\/p>\n

Kogan & DiSalvo Personal Injury Law <\/a>sponsored our Forever Families of the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A South Florida emergency shelter serving children entering foster care received a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-301411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}