Agency uses gingerbread contest to highlight need for foster families

BARSTOW — A local agency that helps find temporary shelter for children is hoping to solve a shortage of foster families by building homes out of gingerbread.

The Barstow-based Greater Hope Foundation, which helps to find families for children in foster care, is in its third year of hosting the “Gingerbread Challenge,” a holiday contest where residents can show off their creative baking skills. Participants craft homes, families and even the occasional undersea scene out of gingerbread, all competing for the $100 first prize.

Kim Hammack, a social work supervisor with the organization, said that she started the contest in order to educate residents about the need for foster families in the area. The group serves over 100 children in the area, taking children from all over the High Desert. Demand for foster families often outpaces supply.

“We need more good homes in Barstow,” Hammack said.

She said that Barstow has a higher rate of need than other areas in San Bernardino county. According to statistics from the Department of Children’s Services, Barstow and nearby communities referred 116 out of every 1,000 children into foster care in 2006 compared to 69 per 1,000 children in the county. County officials investigated 2,325 reports of child abuse last year, the majority for general neglect and physical abuse. Of those referred, 87 children in the Barstow are were placed into foster homes.

Debbie Wood, a social work supervisor with the organization, said that growing demand in the Barstow area is forcing the group to place children farther out of town, separating them from their friends and schools.

“A lot of foster kids have to go to Victorville because there just aren’t enough families here,” she said.

To be an eligible foster family applicants must go through an extensive training course and undergo a criminal records check. The families then receive a stipend to support the child.

“It’s not to supplement their income; it’s to provide for the child,” she said.

Wood said that the organization is constantly seeking families to take in kids in need. The organization accepts potential parents from all backgrounds

“We just want good caring, people,” she said.

Contact the writer:

(760) 256-4126 or jason_smith@link.freedom.com

If you go

What: Gingerbread Challenge contest

Where: Entry forms can be picked up at 231 E. Main St.

When: Dec. 10 to Dec. 13, Judging will take place on Dec. 14

For additional information: Call 256-0432