Angelia Jackson-Phelon, 40, remembers the day, six years ago, when her four children were taken by the DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services) and placed in the Neighbor to Neighbor program. Looking back, Jackson-Phelon—who at the time was a drug addict—would have never believed that she would be grateful for Neighbor to Neighbor, but she is. After 26 months of hard work, Jackson-Phelon was reunited with all of her children. Knowing that there was a team of people who supported her and wanted her to get back on track was important to her success.

“I had never thought that people outside of family could care about you,” she says. “To have come from the street and then be brought into a group where everyone cared about me—from the caseworker to the therapist and foster parent—it was, like, wow. To this day, I’m still in communication with these people. I can call to vent or simply to share. I love them.”

Unlike other programs, Neighbor to Neighbor also provides support for the foster family. Foster parents and birth parents know that they have access to someone at Neighbor to Neighbor no matter what the problem, and what time of day.