Foster the City

Echo.Church

About this app

An app for Advocates, Foster Parents and Support Friends within Foster the City (fosterthecity.org), designed to equip and strengthen families who are caring for vulnerable children. This app was created for 3 main reasons:
- Facilitate healthy Foster Family and Support Friend teams
- Guide each person through their FTC onboard process
- Provide Advocates insight into their church's FTC ministry
The key features in this app are:
- Calendar - One unified calendar shared among the Support Friend and Foster Family team for support requests. This allows Foster Parents to send out requests to their Support Friend team, for Support Friends to send out requests on behalf of the Foster Family, and for Advocates to be able to see how the team is doing and where they can offer their support.
- Prayer requests - Practical requests being met are vital to the health of a Foster Family, and so is emotional and spiritual support. This feature allows Foster Parents to send out prayer requests to their Support Friend Team and gives a chance for Support Friends to engage and let the Foster Family know they are standing with them in prayer.
- Messaging - One central place for communication between the Foster Parents and Support Friends. This also provides clear access to their Advocate in case they need support, or if the Advocate wants to reach out and connect with a Foster Parent or Support Friends.
- Resources - A curated platform for Foster Parents, Support Friends, and Advocates to continue learning about important topics in foster care through podcasts, blogs, and videos, as well as recommended trainings, conferences, and books.
- Advocate insight - As the leader of their church's FTC ministry, this app will provide Advocates with clarity on who in their church wants to participate in FTC and their desired role. Advocates will be able to see exactly where each person is within their onboarding process, to create Foster Family and Support Friend teams, and to see how the Foster Family and Support Friend team is doing in regards to requests sent/fulfilled.

Engaging in the work of foster care is important and rewarding, but it can also be difficult. We need each other. Parents can foster longer and better when they have practical, emotional and spiritual support around them. We can’t all do the same thing, but we can all do something. Whether you’re an Advocate, Foster Parent or a Support Friend, what you’re doing matters and is making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children and families. Thank you.

Please note, while this app is exclusive for anyone attending a church that partners with Foster the City, you can find out more information on how to get your church involved by visiting our website: fosterthecity.org/getinvolved

What’s new

- Introducing the Notification Center
- View your notification history and updates in one place
- See unread notifications at a glance
- Fixed an issue with automatic capitalization when writing comments and requests
- Other bug fixes and stability improvements