Foster Family Resources in Walnut Creek, CA

Comprehensive Support For Foster, Kinship & Adoptive Families Navigating The Unique Challenges Of The Foster Care Journey

Foster families in Walnut Creek face unique challenges that often go unaddressed by traditional support systems.

From unexpected placement calls requiring immediate essentials to the ongoing emotional and material needs of children in care, the journey can feel overwhelming without proper resources and community backing.

Expressions of Hope stands as a dedicated partner to Walnut Creek foster families, offering comprehensive support through our expanding network of resources. Our organization was founded by experienced foster parent Peggy Smith, who personally understands the complex realities of fostering children. This lived experience informs everything we do—from providing emergency essentials through our Bags of Hope program to facilitating enrichment opportunities that allow foster children to experience the same activities as their peers.

The Walnut Creek community presents unique opportunities for foster families to thrive with proper support. Our services bridge critical gaps in the foster care system, connecting families with both material resources and a supportive community that truly understands their daily challenges. By partnering with local businesses and agencies throughout Contra Costa County, we ensure Walnut Creek foster families receive comprehensive care that addresses both immediate needs and long-term development.

Expressions of Hope provides a comprehensive suite of resources specifically designed for foster, kinship, and adoptive families in the Walnut Creek area.

Our services begin with our flagship Bags of Hope program, where children entering foster care receive backpacks filled with age-appropriate essentials—from comfort items like blankets and stuffed animals to practical necessities including hygiene products, clothing, and school supplies. This immediate support helps ease the transition for both children and caregivers during a challenging time.

Beyond initial placement support, our Resource Center serves as a continuing source of essential items for foster families. Walnut Creek families can access clothing, furniture, toys, books, and specialized equipment at no cost, helping to normalize the lives of children in care while easing the financial burden on caregivers. Our inventory is regularly updated through community donations and partnerships with local businesses, ensuring families receive quality items that meet their specific needs.

The Enrichment and Respite Fund represents our commitment to the complete wellbeing of foster children in Walnut Creek. Understanding that development extends beyond basic necessities, this fund provides opportunities for foster children to participate in sports, arts, music lessons, summer camps, and other activities that foster confidence and social connections. Additionally, we offer respite support to give caregivers the breaks they need to sustain their vital role, working with trusted providers throughout Contra Costa County to ensure continuity of care.

Our approach is holistic, recognizing that foster families in Walnut Creek require not just material support but also community connection. Through support groups, educational workshops, and community events, we create spaces where foster families can share experiences, build networks, and access specialized knowledge about navigating the foster care system in Contra Costa County.

Transform a Child's Foster Journey Today

Key Benefits

Benefit 1: IImmediate Support During Critical Transitions

When a child enters foster care in Walnut Creek, the first 24 hours can define their entire experience. Our Bags of Hope program addresses this critical period by providing backpacks filled with age-appropriate necessities tailored to each child's specific needs. For infants, this includes diaper bags with essentials like diapers, wipes, pacifiers, and baby blankets. School-aged children receive backpacks with personal care items, comfort objects, and age-appropriate activities.

Walnut Creek foster parents frequently report that these bags make an immediate difference in helping children feel valued during a traumatic transition. The thoughtfully curated items signal to children that someone cares about their comfort and has prepared specifically for them. For caregivers, the bags provide essential supplies that might otherwise require emergency shopping trips during an already stressful time.

The program is designed with Contra Costa County's specific foster care protocols in mind, working seamlessly with local placement agencies to ensure bags reach children quickly. Each year, we distribute over 200 Bags of Hope throughout our service areas, with increasing requests from the Walnut Creek community as awareness grows about this critical resource.

Benefit 2:  Ongoing Resource Access for Growing Needs

Foster children's needs evolve throughout their time in care, particularly as they grow and develop. Our Resource Center serves as a continuing source of support for Walnut Creek foster families, offering essential items like seasonal clothing, school supplies, furniture, and developmental toys at no cost. This service addresses the practical reality that children often arrive with few possessions and may experience growth spurts or developmental milestones requiring new resources.

The Resource Center is specifically designed to feel like a normal shopping experience, preserving dignity for both caregivers and children. Foster families from Walnut Creek can schedule appointments to select items that match their specific needs, with staff members who understand the unique challenges of fostering. The center maintains a special focus on items that promote normalcy, such as current styles of clothing, popular toys, and school supplies that match what peers might have.

For Walnut Creek families, particularly those caring for multiple children or those with specialized needs, the Resource Center represents significant financial relief while ensuring children have the items they need to thrive. The center's inventory is regularly refreshed through community donations and partnerships with local Contra Costa County businesses, creating a sustainable support system for the duration of a child's time in care.

Benefit 3: Enrichment Opportunities for Holistic Development

Foster children in Walnut Creek deserve the same opportunities as their peers to discover talents, build skills, and form positive social connections. Our Enrichment Fund removes financial barriers to participation in extracurricular activities that are essential for healthy development but often overlooked in basic foster care support. The fund covers expenses for sports registration, art classes, music lessons, summer camps, and special educational opportunities based on each child's interests.

These enrichment activities provide much more than recreation for foster children in Contra Costa County. They offer consistent, positive relationships with coaches and instructors, build self-esteem through skill development, and create normalizing experiences where children can temporarily step away from the "foster child" label. For teenagers in Walnut Creek foster homes, these activities often provide crucial healthy peer relationships and mentoring that can shape future aspirations.

The Enrichment Fund also addresses milestone events that might otherwise be missed, such as school graduation ceremonies, proms, and cultural celebrations. By ensuring foster children can fully participate in these formative experiences, we help create positive memories during challenging times and support the development of well-rounded individuals with diverse interests and strengths.

Benefit 4: Respite Care for Foster Family Sustainability

The demands of foster parenting can be intense, particularly for Walnut Creek families caring for children with complex trauma or specialized needs. Our Respite Program acknowledges this reality by providing planned breaks that support caregiver wellbeing while maintaining safe, consistent care for children. Through partnerships with certified respite providers throughout Contra Costa County, we facilitate short-term care arrangements that give foster parents time to rest, attend to personal needs, or focus on other family members.

Unlike typical babysitting, our respite providers receive specialized training in trauma-informed care and understand the unique considerations for foster children. This ensures continuity of care and minimizes disruption to children's routines during respite periods. For Walnut Creek foster families, particularly those caring for sibling groups or children with challenging behaviors, these structured breaks can mean the difference between placement stability and disruption.

The program also creates natural mentoring relationships for foster children, who benefit from positive connections with additional caring adults. Walnut Creek foster parents report that regular respite not only reduces stress and prevents burnout but also improves their effectiveness as caregivers. By investing in caregiver wellbeing, we ultimately enhance the quality of care that foster children receive and increase the likelihood of successful, long-term placements.

Benefit 5: Community Connection and Peer Support

Foster parenting in Walnut Creek can feel isolating without connections to others who understand the unique challenges involved. Our community-building programs create essential support networks through regular foster parent gatherings, specialized support groups, and family events throughout Contra Costa County. These opportunities allow caregivers to share experiences, exchange practical advice, and form friendships with others walking similar paths.

For foster children, our community events provide valuable opportunities to meet peers who understand the foster care experience. These connections reduce feelings of difference or isolation that can accompany being in care. Seasonal celebrations, family fun days, and youth-focused activities create positive memories while building a sense of belonging to a supportive community beyond the individual foster home.

Walnut Creek foster families particularly benefit from our localized approach to community building, with events and groups specifically designed for the East Bay area. By facilitating both in-person and virtual connection opportunities, we ensure that even the busiest foster families can access peer support when needed. These community connections often outlast specific placements, creating sustainable support networks that caregivers can rely on throughout their fostering journey.

Benefit 6: Navigation Assistance for Complex Systems

The foster care system in Contra Costa County involves multiple agencies, complex procedures, and ever-changing regulations that can overwhelm even the most dedicated caregivers. Our Navigation Support services provide Walnut Creek foster families with knowledgeable guidance through this landscape, helping them advocate effectively for the children in their care. Experienced staff members offer assistance with understanding county-specific policies, accessing entitled services, and connecting with specialized resources.

This support proves particularly valuable during key transition points: when children first enter care, during court proceedings, when addressing educational challenges, or when navigating healthcare systems for children with medical needs. Our team's familiarity with Walnut Creek schools, healthcare providers, and social service offices allows us to provide targeted referrals and practical strategies for common challenges.

Foster parents consistently identify system navigation as one of their greatest stressors, and our support in this area significantly reduces the administrative burden of fostering. By helping caregivers efficiently access available services and entitlements, we ensure that foster children receive the full benefits intended for them while freeing foster parents to focus on providing nurturing care rather than paperwork and procedural hurdles.

Our Services

Core Support Services

Our flagship support program provides essential resources to foster families in Walnut Creek and throughout Contra Costa County. Through our Bags of Hope initiative, children entering foster care receive backpacks filled with age-appropriate comfort items and necessities, easing their transition during a traumatic time. These carefully curated bags include hygiene products, comfort items like blankets and stuffed animals, age-appropriate activities, and essential clothing items. Each bag is assembled with the child's specific age, gender, and immediate needs in mind, providing critical support during the first days of placement.

Enrichment & Development Programs

Our Enrichment Fund ensures foster children in Walnut Creek have access to the same developmental opportunities as their peers. The program covers costs for extracurricular activities, including sports registration fees, equipment, music lessons, art classes, summer camps, and special educational programs. Additionally, we fund milestone experiences such as graduation celebrations, school dances, and cultural events that might otherwise be inaccessible. These enrichment opportunities foster confidence, develop talents, build healthy peer relationships, and create normalizing experiences that support overall well-being.

Resource Center Access

Walnut Creek foster families gain access to our comprehensive Resource Center, which serves as an ongoing source of essential items throughout a child's placement. The center stocks clothing in all sizes, furniture, toys, books, school supplies, and specialized equipment that foster children might need. Families can schedule appointments to "shop" for needed items at no cost, helping to normalize the lives of children in care while easing the financial burden on caregivers. Our inventory is regularly refreshed through community donations and corporate partnerships, ensuring quality items are always available.

Caregiver Support Network

Recognizing that supported foster parents provide better care, our Caregiver Support Network offers multiple resources for adults raising foster children in Walnut Creek. Services include monthly support groups facilitated by experienced foster parents, educational workshops addressing common challenges, respite care coordination, and one-on-one mentoring for new foster families. We also provide navigation assistance for complex systems, including healthcare, education, and the court process. This comprehensive support network helps prevent caregiver burnout while improving the quality of care that foster children receive.

Community Connection Events

Our regular community events create opportunities for Walnut Creek foster families to build connections, share experiences, and celebrate together. These gatherings include seasonal celebrations, family fun days, teen-specific activities, and special outings throughout Contra Costa County. By bringing together families facing similar challenges, these events reduce isolation and create natural support networks. For foster children, these gatherings provide valuable opportunities to meet peers who understand the foster care experience, reducing feelings of difference or stigma that can accompany being in care.

Our Process

Step 1: Connect With Our Team

The support process begins with a simple connection to our dedicated team serving Walnut Creek and surrounding communities. Foster families can reach out via phone, email, or through our website to express their needs and learn about available resources. During this initial contact, we'll gather basic information about your family situation, the ages and number of children in your care, and your most pressing needs. This conversation typically takes 15-20 minutes and helps us prepare the right resources for your specific situation.

Step 2: Needs Assessment

Once we understand your needs, we'll prepare customized resources for your foster family. For new placements, this includes assembling age-appropriate Bags of Hope with essential items. For ongoing needs, we'll schedule a time for you to visit our Resource Center or arrange delivery of specific items to your Walnut Creek home if transportation is challenging. For enrichment opportunities, we'll process funding requests and make connections with local program providers. This resource preparation typically happens within 24-48 hours of your initial contact, with emergency needs addressed even more quickly.

Step 3: Engage With Ongoing Support

Beyond meeting immediate needs, we'll connect your family with ongoing support systems designed for the long-term fostering journey. This includes invitations to monthly support groups in the Walnut Creek area, connections to experienced mentor families, information about upcoming workshops and community events, and enrollment in our regular communication channels. Your engagement can be customized based on your family's needs and availability, with both in-person and virtual options available to accommodate busy schedules and varying comfort levels.

Step 4: Partner for Long-Term Success

Our relationship with your foster family is designed to evolve as your needs change throughout the fostering journey. Regular check-ins help us understand how we can best support you as children grow, circumstances change, or new challenges arise. Whether you're navigating school transitions, addressing behavioral challenges, preparing for reunification, or considering adoption, our team remains a consistent resource. This long-term partnership approach ensures continuous support rather than just crisis intervention, helping create stability for both caregivers and children.

Our Approach

At Expressions of Hope, our approach to supporting foster families in Walnut Creek is fundamentally shaped by lived experience. Founded by Peggy Smith, who has been a foster parent for 27 years and adopted four children herself, our organization deeply understands the day-to-day realities of the fostering journey. This firsthand knowledge informs everything from the practical resources we provide to the emotional support we offer. We recognize that fostering is both incredibly rewarding and profoundly challenging, often simultaneously, and our support is designed to acknowledge both these truths without judgment.

We operate from a trauma-informed perspective, recognizing that both children in care and many of their biological families have experienced significant trauma. This awareness shapes how we prepare resources, train volunteers, and structure our programs. For Walnut Creek foster families caring for children with complex backgrounds, our trauma-informed approach provides both practical strategies and emotional validation. Rather than focusing solely on managing behaviors, we help caregivers understand the underlying needs those behaviors communicate and develop responsive rather than reactive caregiving approaches.

Our commitment to the Walnut Creek community includes building sustainable support systems that acknowledge the local context. Contra Costa County has unique strengths and challenges within its foster care system, and our programs are specifically tailored to navigate this landscape effectively. We've developed relationships with local schools, healthcare providers, social services offices, and community organizations throughout the East Bay to create comprehensive support networks. This localized approach ensures that our assistance is practical and immediately applicable rather than generically aspirational.

Central to our philosophy is the recognition that supporting foster families ultimately means supporting children's connection to their entire community of important relationships. While providing resources to foster homes is our primary focus, we understand that children benefit when all the adults in their lives can work together constructively. When appropriate and requested by foster families, we offer resources that support positive visitation experiences with biological families, collaborative relationships with social workers, and community connections that will remain consistent regardless of where a child lives. This whole-community approach helps reduce the fragmentation that children in foster care often experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Expressions of Hope has served foster, kinship, and adoptive families for 14 years, founded by Peggy Smith based on her 27 years of personal experience as a foster parent. While our primary office is located in Napa County, we've expanded services to meet growing needs in Walnut Creek and throughout Contra Costa County, bringing our expertise in comprehensive foster family support to East Bay communities.

  • For urgent needs such as emergency placements, we prioritize same-day assistance whenever possible, delivering essential Bags of Hope directly to your home if needed. For standard resource requests, foster families can typically schedule a Resource Center appointment within 2-3 business days. Enrichment Fund requests are processed weekly, with expedited consideration for time-sensitive opportunities. Our team understands that foster care needs often arise unexpectedly, and we've designed our response systems to be as nimble as possible for Contra Costa County families.

  • Our services are available to all types of foster care arrangements in the Walnut Creek area, including county-certified foster homes, relative/kinship placements, Resource Family Approval (RFA) homes, and adoptive families of former foster children. We recognize that kinship caregivers often step in with even less preparation than traditional foster parents and may need additional support navigating the system. Documentation requirements are minimal—we primarily need basic information about the children in your care to ensure we provide age-appropriate resources.

  • All of our services are provided at no cost to foster, kinship, and adoptive families in Walnut Creek and throughout Contra Costa County. Our organization is funded through community donations, grants, and corporate partnerships, specifically to remove financial barriers for caregivers. While we do accept donations from those who wish to contribute, receiving assistance is never contingent on any financial contribution. Our priority is ensuring that all resources reach the families and children who need them without adding financial stress.

  • Foster families can apply for Enrichment Fund support for specific activities or needs through a simple form on our website or in person at our office. After approval, we typically pay activity providers directly rather than reimbursing families, simplifying the process for caregivers. The fund covers a wide range of opportunities, including sports registration, equipment, lessons, camp fees, special event costs, and educational enrichment. We've established relationships with many activity providers throughout Contra Costa County, which often streamlines the enrollment process for foster children.

  • While we don't operate a formal transportation service, we do offer several solutions for Walnut Creek foster families facing transportation challenges. Our volunteer network can sometimes provide rides to medical appointments, family visitations, or enrichment activities when arranged in advance. We also maintain a transportation fund that can provide gas cards or rideshare credits in certain circumstances. Additionally, we can connect families with other transportation resources available through Contra Costa County social services or community partners.

Support Foster Families in Walnut Creek Today.

Your involvement changes the story for local children in foster care!