Caritas Family Solutions has been chosen by the community to receive the inaugural “Imprint of Hope” Award presented by Crisis Nursery of Effingham County. This award recognizes Caritas’ mission to strengthen families and protect children throughout the region.
A spinoff of the organization’s Children’s Art Auction, Crisis Nursery chose to forgo auctioning this year’s featured community art piece and instead invited the community to vote for a nonprofit organization that goes above and beyond to keep children safe and families strong. Following a tie-breaker vote, Caritas was named the recipient.
Assistant Program Director of Foster Care Services for the Effingham, Highland and Mt. Vernon locations, Morgan Probst, said the award reflects the team’s continued commitment to creating meaningful change in the communities they serve.
“It’s equally humbling and rewarding to see the community recognize the work we do,” said Probst. “When we first opened our Effingham office in 2012, nobody really knew who we were or what our mission was. Now, the community not only sees we exist, but we are known as a leading agency that connects with families and individuals to make a difference.”
Crisis Nursery is a 24-hour emergency shelter that provides free, voluntary and confidential short-term care for children from birth through age 6. Caritas has been a partner of the nonprofit organization since it began in 2017.
“We currently have a family using resources from Crisis Nursery to help with supervision when a caregiver is unavailable,” Probst explained. “They’ve also helped our foster parents with essentials like car seats, specialty formula and pack-and-plays. They’ve been an incredible partner over the years, and receiving this award from them makes it even more meaningful.”
The awarded art piece titled “Nursery Wishes and Dandelion Kisses” was created using nearly 100 fingerprints of local children and adults. It will be displayed at Caritas’ Effingham office as a symbol of the individuals and organizations working to strengthen and uplift the community.