The Kristin West Family prepares to deliver needed resources to local foster families through the Hands and Feet project, started last summer.

Eyes and Ears? This Project is the Hands and Feet of Local Caregivers

October 13, 2021

Port St. Lucie –

You might call it the Door Dash of foster care. Almost.

Unlike the food-delivery service rendered indispensable by the Covid pandemic, these deliveries are free to any good foster home.

Started this past July, Hands and Feet of the Treasure Coast fills and delivers orders for new caregivers in Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties.

The idea is to do the running around – to be the hands and feet – for new caregivers, said St. Lucie County foster parent Kristin West, who adapted the project to the Treasure Coast this summer after discovering it in Palm Beach County.

“We want to be the hands and feet of our foster care community, running around for them while they’re dealing with everything that comes with receiving a child into the home,” West said.

The Hands and Feet project served its first Treasure Coast family in July and has since served 119 children, collecting and delivering everything from a washer and dryer and a dining room table to essential clothing. The project works in partnership with the Stuart-located Foster Closet, a resource founded by another foster mother.

“When we get a request, we go to the Foster Closet and the community first,” West said. If that doesn’t work, the request is posted to a following of Amazon “wish listers,” people who follow the project and purchase needed items.
The project is simple and easy to access:

Caregivers, including both foster families and relative and non-relative caregivers, fill out a Hands and Feet request form at www.handsandfeetfl.com specifying their family’s material needs after a child has been placed in their home.

Next, Hands and Feet staff receive the request and then gather the requested items from local foster closets and community donors.

Finally, the items are delivered to the family within 48 hours.

For more information, or to become a supporter, follow the program on Facebook @thehandsandfeet:deliveringhelpandhope, or visit the website at www.handsandfeetfl.com.