Check out our resource page, compiled to help you during the pandemic.
Our Support Groups provide adoptive, foster, and kinship parents a place to connect with one another. Each support group opens with a time of sharing, continues with a piece of curriculum, and ends with a group discussion on the concepts covered for that meeting. The goal is for each parent to leave feeling heard, connected to other parents who understand them, and having a sense of direction for the future.
We offer two different support group models-
- Trauma-Informed (open, ongoing)
- Faith-Based (families commit to attending for one year)
If you are looking to be a part of a community of like-minded families we hope you will find a home at one of our Support Groups. (See all 8 of our locations below!)
Lead Teams
Each Support Group is run by a Lead Team of adoptive, foster, and kinship parents just like you! If you are interested in being a part of one of these teams, check out the details below.
Our Support Groups run best when there is a healthy Lead Team of three families. We ask that couples join the Lead Team together when possible. This is to ensure there is a balance of moms and dads in our Support Groups. We strongly believe that the whole family needs connection and support, best model this by our leadership team! Ideally, each person on the Lead Team would be in charge of at least one of the following roles.
- Leader- Leads entire Lead Team as they run the Support Group together.
- Facilitator – Facilitates the Support Group meeting, including sharing, presenting curriculum, and discussing.
- Attendance/Welcoming – Takes attendance for parents, kids, and volunteers. Make sure everyone has name tags and feels welcome.
- Childcare Team Lead – Track RSVPs, schedule volunteers, manage Childcare Team.
- Dinner – Track potluck signups (if your group has a potluck). Make sure water, cups, plates, napkins, and utensils are out.
- Facilities – Arrange room reservations for the year, check room set up day-of has enough tables and chairs.
- Tech – Some Facilitators find it helpful to have someone set up and run the video clip.
If you have questions about our Lead Teams or are interested in applying to join one, send an email to cristin@helponechild.org. (Our Trauma-Informed Support Groups are open to any foster, adoptive or kinship parent or caregivers. A statement of faith is asked of the of our Lead Team Members, but not of participants.)
Feedback from Support Group Attendees
The thing I appreciate most from attending one of Help One Child’s Support Groups is the peer support!! Hearing other parents share that they get it and they REALLY have experienced the same craziness (not just normal development stuff parents of typical children are familiar with). The teaching is also excellent and I’ve learned so many great things over the years.
I am so thankful for the teaching tools such as workbooks and videos at our support group. They have been eye opening and life changing. The knowledge and guidance of our leader is encouraging and supportive. Also, my five kids love going and connecting with the friends they have made. We’ve had the wonderful opportunity to get to know some very special families.
Trauma-Informed Support Groups
Palo Alto (Planning to start meeting virtually during pandemic)
Date/Time: second Thursday of every month from 5:30 to 7:30 PM
**Group does not meet in December. August date TBD for Summer Party.**
**Location: Peninsula Bible Church, 3505 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Come and meet with other adoptive, foster, and kinship parents who are walking the same parenting path as you. There will be time for sharing as well as time for learning trauma-informed parenting skills that will help you in your day to day life with your child.
A potluck dinner starts off the evening from 5:30-6:00 as a way for parents, kids, and volunteers to connect with one another and build community. After dinner, the kids and volunteers move to the childcare room. Childcare is available by RSVP only. Fill out this form by Monday, 5 PM the week of the meeting to reserve childcare. Sign up for the email list below to receive a monthly email with the details of the upcoming meeting.
If you have any questions about this support group, please send an email to paloalto@helponechild.org.
Subscribe to the Palo Alto Support Group Email List
Los Gatos (Meeting Virtually during pandemic)
Date/Time: second Thursday of every month from 6:30 to 8:30 PM
*Group does not meet in December.
Location: Calvary Church, 16330 Los Gatos Blvd, Los Gatos, CA 95032
Calvary Church provides dinner for this support group as a way to encourage the growth of this community of adoptive, foster, and kinship parents along with their children, and our wonderful childcare volunteers. Everyone enjoys eating together from 6:30-7:00, then the children join the volunteers in childcare while the parents meet from 7:00-8:30. Childcare is available by RSVP only. Fill out this form by Monday, 5 PM the week of the meeting to reserve childcare. Sign up for the email list below to receive a monthly email with the details of the upcoming meeting. If you have any questions about this support group, please contact Alice at losgatos@helponechild.
The support group starts with a time of sharing, then moves into a time of learning a trauma-informed parenting skill, and concludes with a group discussion of what this skill would look like applied to daily life.
The goal is for each parent to leave feeling heard, connected to other parents who understand them, and having a sense of hope for the future. We hope you can join us!
Group meets in Parkside 3. Click here to see the campus map.
Subscribe to the Los Gatos Support Group Email List
Redwood City (Recruiting new families to restart meeting)
Date/Time: third Sunday of every month from 5:30-7:30 pm
**Launch date (first meeting) is October 20th, 2019.**
Location: Peninsula Covenant Church, 3560 Farm Hill Blvd, Redwood City, CA 94061
In partnership with Peninsula Covenant Church (PCC), we are so excited to announce the launch of a new support group in Redwood City! PCC has a big heart for children from hard places and their families. We hope you can come and connect with this vibrant community!
Come and meet with other adoptive, foster, and kinship parents who are walking the same parenting path as you. There will be time for sharing as well as time for learning trauma-informed parenting skills that will help you in your day to day life with your child.
Dinner will be provided. Kids will eat in childcare. Parents will eat during the support group meeting. Childcare is available by RSVP only. Please fill out this form by Wednesday, 5PM the week of the meeting to rsvp for childcare AND/OR rsvp for dinner.
Sign up for the email list below to receive a monthly email with the details of the upcoming meeting. If you have any questions about this support group, please send an email to Holly at redwoodcity@helponechild.org.
Subscribe to the Redwood City Support Group Email List
Walnut Creek (Meeting virtually, bi-monthly during pandemic)
- Meets every other Monday 7:30-8:30 pm via Zoom (March 22, 2021 met…)
Location: Cornerstone Fellowship Church
In partnership with Cornerstone Fellowship Church, we are so excited to announce the launch of a new support group in Walnut Creek! We hope you can come and connect with this vibrant community!
Come and meet with other adoptive, foster, and kinship parents who are walking the same parenting path as you. There will be time for learning trauma-informed parenting skills that will help you in your day to day life with your child, as well as time for group discussion.
Dinner will graciously be provided by Cornerstone Fellowship.
Please fill out this form by Thursday, 5PM the week prior to the meeting to RSVP.
Send an Email to Julie at walnutcreek@helponechild.org if you have any questions about this support group.
Sign up for the email list below to receive a monthly email with the details of each upcoming meeting along with the RSVP link.
Subscribe to the Walnut Creek Support Group Email List
San Jose (Meeting Virtually during pandemic)
There are two San Jose Groups!
Location: Westgate Church 1735 Saratoga Avenue San Jose, California 95129
This group is focused on fostering and adopting through the foster care system!
- We meet virtually every other Sunday from 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm (March 21-May 23, 2021, then on break over the summer). We usually meet at Westgate Church Saratoga campus, but haven’t gone back in-person yet.
- We typically spend 15-30 min doing a devotional/video (sometimes leveraging the Help One Child curriculum materials) and spend about 30-45 minutes sharing prayer requests and praying for each other.
- The group is recruiting 1-2 additional foster or fost/adopt families! Most of us have been together since January 2019 when the group started so while there’s no “minimum commitment”, we prefer folks attend regularly. Our focus is building deeper relationships with one another and supporting each other through prayer.
We are a fostering life group with five committed families right now. Some of us are still actively fostering and some have adopted out of the foster system. We talk and pray a lot about the challenges of working within the foster care system, how to deal with the trauma that our kids have experienced that will always be a part of them, and various topics, such as how to best raise kids that may be a different race than we are, etc.
Location: The River Church Community, 670 Lincoln Ave #200, San Jose, CA 95126 (Group taking a breaks during pandemic, waiting for in-person meetings to be safe and will resume)
Date/Time: first Sunday of every month from 5:30-7:30 pm
**Group does not meet in December.**
We are so excited to announce the launch of our new support group in San Jose! Come and meet with other adoptive, foster, and kinship parents who are walking the same parenting path as you. There will be time for sharing as well as time for learning trauma-informed parenting skills that will help you in your day to day life with your child.
A potluck dinner starts off the evening from 5:30-6:00 as a way for parents, kids, and volunteers to connect with one another and build community. After dinner, the kids and volunteers move to the childcare room. Childcare is available by RSVP only. Fill out this form by Wednesday, 5 PM the week of the meeting to reserve childcare. Sign up for the email list below to receive a monthly email with the details of the upcoming meeting. If you have any questions about this support group, please send an email to Lesley at sanjose@helponechild.org.
Subscribe to the San Jose Support Group Email List
San Bruno (Meeting Virtually during pandemic)
Date/Time: second Monnday of every month from 8:00-9:30 pm via zoom
**Group does not meet in December.**
Location: New North Church, 300 Piedmont Avenue, San Bruno, CA 94066
Come and meet with other adoptive, foster, and kinship parents who are walking the same parenting path as you. There will be time for sharing as well as time for learning trauma-informed parenting skills that will help you in your day to day life with your child.
Childcare is available when group resumes meeting in person, but not at this time, by RSVP only. Fill out this form by Wednesday, 5 PM the week of the meeting to reserve childcare. Sign up for the email list below to receive a monthly email with the details of the upcoming meeting. If you have any questions about this support group, please send an email to Julie at sanbruno@helponechild.org.
Subscribe to the San Bruno Support group email list
Morgan Hill (This group is waiting to resume meeting in person when it is safe due to Covid-19! No online meetings)
Date/Time: third Monday of every month from 6:30 to 8:30 PM
Location: West Hills Community Church, 16695 Dewitt Ave, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
Come and meet with other adoptive, foster, and kinship parents who are walking the same parenting path as you. There will be time for sharing as well as time for learning trauma-informed parenting skills that will help you in your day to day life with your child.
Childcare is available by RSVP only. Fill out this form by Thursday, 5 PM the week prior to the meeting to reserve childcare. Sign up for the email list below to receive a monthly email with the details of the upcoming meeting. If you have any questions about this support group, send an email to Maylin at morganhill@helponechild.
Subscribe to the Morgan Hill Support Group Email List
This group is no longer gathering.
New Locations
Date/Time: once a month, same day, same time
Location: Local Host Church
Do you wish there was a support group in your neighborhood? Contact us (Cristin
@HelpOneChild.org) to find out how to make this happen for yourself and other adoptive, foster, and kinship families in your community. Our vision is to have a support group in every city in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. We’d love for you and your church to partner with us as we work to provide this important resource to families in their local communities.
Faith-Based Support Groups (Replanted)
Morgan Hill (Group has tried meeting online and taken some breaks during pandemic, waiting for in-person meetings to be safe and will resume)
Date/Time: fourth Sunday of every month, from 3:00-5:00pm
**Group does not meet in December.**
Location: Morgan Hill Bible Church, 15055 Monterey Rd, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
We are happy to announce our new partnership with Replanted. Replanted is a national ministry dedicated to helping adoptive and foster families find community within support groups.
While Help One Child’s traditional Support Group model is-
- Open (any adoptive, foster, or kinship family can drop in at any time)
- Ongoing (groups continue meeting year after year to provide a consistent resource to the local community)
- Trauma-Informed (our curriculum is based on educating parents on trauma-informed parenting techniques)
The Replanted model is-
- Committed (families register for the group and commit to attending faithfully to each monthly meeting)
- One Year (the group commits to meeting together for one year)
- Faith-Based (the curriculum is based on scripture and focused on helping parents connect with one another)
“These groups are a place of encouragement and prayer for families as they care for children. We believe that as families and children grow in relationship with each other, these groups can become a place of deep trust and encouragement for all involved.”
We, at Help One Child, are excited to now be able to offer both of these support group models to our families (open/trauma-informed, committed/faith-based). If you are interested in joining the Morgan Hill Replanted Group contact rachel@helponechild.org
New Locations
Date/Time: once a month, same day, same time
Location: Local Host Church
We are happy to announce our new partnership with Replanted. Replanted is a national ministry dedicated to helping adoptive and foster families find community within support groups.
While Help One Child’s traditional Support Group model is-
- Open (any adoptive, foster, or kinship family can drop in at any time)
- Ongoing (groups continue meeting year after year to provide a consistent resource to the local community)
- Trauma-Informed (our curriculum is based on educating parents on trauma-informed parenting techniques)
The Replanted model is-
- Private (families register for the group and commit to attending faithfully to each monthly meeting)
- One Year (the group commits to meeting together for one year)
- Faith-Based (the curriculum is based on scripture and focused on helping parents connect with one another)
“These groups are a place of encouragement and prayer for families as they care for children. We believe that as families and children grow in relationship with each other, these groups can become a place of deep trust and encouragement for all involved.”
We, at Help One Child, are excited to now be able to offer both of these support group models to our families (open/trauma-informed, private/faith-based). If you are interested in starting a Replanted Group in your area contact rachel@helponechild.org.