(Radio Iowa) – A program launching later this month aims to help Iowa foster families find the items they need to prepare for kids to move in, as foster families typically only get a few hours notice before a child is placed with them. Traci Schermerhorn leads Foster Squad, a nonprofit that supports foster and kinship families. Its eQuipHub platform will allow anyone to post an item up for grabs, like a bed frame, to connect with a foster family who needs it quickly.

“If you just had a twin bed to donate, and you happen to donate it to us through eQuipHub, and you go meet that family, and you see they’re just normal people who are doing some tough things for a kid,” Schermerhorn says, “my hope is that you might build a relationship with that person.” A recent state report found there were nearly 24-hundred children referred to foster homes in Iowa last year, compared to only about 17-hundred licensed foster families. Schermerhorn, who used to foster, says it’s important foster families secure needed items quickly because kids often show up with very little warning.

“Like you’re not excited, like you’re scared,” she says. “You don’t know what this child is coming to you with, or what they’ve experienced. So it’s overwhelming, and then to have to worry about finding supplies, it’s a lot.” She hopes people will learn more about foster care through the program. It will launch in several central Iowa counties before expanding across the state.