The Kindness Project (TKP) is an organization that is volunteer-driven, non-profit, and fully donation-based. They provide support to foster families in the Lehigh Valley region and surrounding areas and recently expanded to the Pocono Region with a building named The Kindness Cottage here in Stroudsburg.
Adoption and foster care are critical for children who have lost their parents.
“It gives them a sense of belonging and it can help them cope with their previous traumas,” said, the director of The Kindness Cottage, Liz Johnson, “When kids lose their first family they can heal with the help of their new families.”
According to the PA Department of Human Services, “In Pennsylvania, more than 3,000 children are waiting to be adopted or fostered.”
TKP is one of many organizations that help with this. TKP states that since 2018, they have helped 600 or more families and more than 1,600 newly adopted or fostered children. The Kindness Cottage was opened on August 20, 2022, hoping to increase these numbers in the future.
TKP offers a variety of necessities for the “tiniest of babies from the NIUC to young adults up to 21 years old,” says Johnson.
TKP provides clothing, hygiene products, and bedding. They also provide school supplies, games, toys, and even strollers and cribs. The kids come into The Kindness Cottage with their caregiver and are given totes to help carry any items they need. Almost like shopping at a grocery store, they choose their clothes and items, giving them the feeling of independence.
If you want to help TKP with its mission and cause, you can donate money at TKP’s official website https://mykindnessproject.org, or clothing and items at The Kindness Cottage located at 305 Cadet Street, Stroudsburg, PA.
You can also volunteer by filling out this form, https://mykindnessproject.org, however, they only allow volunteers 18 or over, unless someone over 16 has a qualified parental figure to volunteer with them.