Governor Kicks-Off "Raise Me Up" Campaign for Foster Care
News Release from the Governor's Office, 10/14/09
ATLANTA - Governor Sonny Perdue, joined by
First Lady Mary Perdue and the Casey Family Program, kicked-off the
Raise Me Up campaign, a national multimedia campaign that
spotlights the challenges foster children face and urges the public
to be a part of the solution.
"Mary and I have had the privilege of caring for eight foster
children and that experience proved to be one the richest of our
lives," said Governor Sonny Perdue. "But, as this campaign
reminds us, you don't have to raise a child to raise them up.
You just have to raise your hand and volunteer to help."
The campaign is a collaborative effort between Casey Family
Programs, the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) and a host
of local community partners. Casey Family Programs is the largest
national foundation whose sole mission is to find permanent homes
for children in foster care.
"Keeping our families strong and our children safe requires the
commitment of everyone in our community," said Cari DeSantis,
Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications for
Casey Family Programs. "Raise Me Up is more than an awareness
campaign. It is a call to action on behalf of children right here
in Georgia. A bright future, a good education and a loving,
life-long family are all within reach for these children. All it
takes is for someone to raise their hand and say they'll help."
Raise Me Up is a critical component of Casey's 2020
Strategy, which seeks to reduce the number of children in the
American foster care system by half over the next 12 years and
reinvest the savings to strengthen families and improve child
welfare, education, employment and mental health services for
children in foster care. Over the next few years, the Raise Me
Up campaign will be one of the largest efforts of its kind to
raise awareness about the challenges foster children face and what
people can do to serve.
"Every child in Georgia deserves a loving, permanent family,"
said DHS Commissioner B.J. Walker. "This campaign is part of a
statewide effort to break through the barriers that have kept many
foster children from finding a 'forever family.'"
Television ads for the Raise Me Up campaign will
premiere on October 15, 2009, and will continue to air across the
metro Atlanta area for two months. The ads highlight the challenges
many foster children in America face when they are unable to find a
safe, loving and permanent family.
The ads can be viewed at www.RaiseMeUp.org.
The Web site features three ways to get involved:
- "Raise Your Hand" links visitors with community-based
organizations in the Atlanta area that need volunteers to serve
children in foster care. These programs offer a wide range of
opportunities to help, including mentoring, volunteering, fostering
and adoption.
- "Raise Awareness" provides opportunities for people to get
engaged with community events and forums that focus on foster care
and child welfare issues.
- "Raise Your Voice" provides easy-to-find opportunities for
people to connect with elected officials and other opinion leaders
on foster care issues in Georgia and across the nation.
In addition to DHS, 12 community-based partners in metro Atlanta
will be prominently featured on the RaiseMeUp.org Web site. They
include: Adoptive & Foster Parent Association of Georgia
(AFPAG), Atlanta Urban League, Bethany Christian Services, Boys
& Girls Club of Metro Atlanta, Georgia Court Appointed Special
Advocates (CASA), Catalyst for Care, FaithBridge Foster
Care, Families First, Georgia Association of Homes &
Services for Children, EmpowerMEnt - an initiative of MAAC, Prevent
Child Abuse Georgia and the Center for Working Families.
For more information on how to get involved in the Raise Me
Up campaign, please visit www.RaiseMeUp.org.