Memory Keeping is an Ongoing Process

Life Book Volunteers

On April 16th and 20th, 2018, LSS Foster Care Services was blessed with 12 volunteers who came together and made over 1,500 Life Book pages for youth in foster care!  Lori Hofer was instrumental in collecting donations, purchasing supplies, and recruiting volunteers to make Life Book pages.  These supplies and pages will be distributed and used by youth, social workers, and foster families throughout the year. 

So at about this point you are thinking, “That’s great, but what is a Life Book?”  A Life Book is a collection of information, stories, photos, and memories kept together to tell a child’s life story.  A Life Book is similar to a scrapbook in that it has photos, celebrates special events and holidays, and contains memorabilia like report cards or a copy of a birth certificate.  A Life Book is different from a scrapbook in that it also includes information on the difficult moments in a child’s life, losses they have experienced, and transitions the child has made.  A child uses his/her Life Book to record their history and the goals for their future.

Life Books are a very personal item for a child; however, they can be quite overwhelming to get started.  When our volunteers come together, they make “blank” Life Book pages that children can add their pictures and information to.  These pages are put together using various themes, colors, and ideas.  When children begin their Life Book, they are then able to review our supply of pages and select the ones that they would like to have in their Life Book.  This gives the child and the foster family a starting point for their book.  It may seem like a small item, but having a few well put together pages to add their photo or information to makes a big difference to a child.  Children and youth are so excited about the choices they have in pages and are amazed that people they don’t know would put together such beautiful pages for them!

We are so thankful to Lori Hofer for organizing this event and our volunteers for their ongoing support of this project!  If you are interested in learning more about the LSS Life Book Project or LSS Foster Care Services, please contact Jill Jensen (Jill.Jensen@LssSD.org  or 605-221-2346) or Chelsie Ogaard (Chelsie.Orgaard@LssSD.org  or 605-791-6700).

-submitted by Jill Jensen, LSS Foster Care Licensing and Intake Social Worker