Serving social workers & creating opportunities for connection through hand-selected holiday gifts for youth in foster care.
Merry Market serves as a resource for front-line social workers and gives them an opportunity to hand-select holiday gifts for the children and youth on their caseload. It is our hope that the gifts selected for each child will give the social worker another opportunity for connection as they navigate building trust and rapport in very difficult situations.
Check out our 2025 Merry Market highlights!
95
Social Workers shopped
604
Kids served who are experiencing foster care
“Merry Market was magical. Being a new social worker and having so many children to shop for I felt overwhelmed. I wanted to be intentional and get something each child had asked for, but wasn’t sure how I was going to accomplish that. I am so grateful for the staff and volunteers that helped me and were just so kind and patient.”
Did you know …
35% of children entering the foster care system in the Charlotte area are placed with a KINSHIP caregiver (Family member)?
Did you also know that Kinship providers do not receive the same financial stipend from the government that foster parents receive? Data shows us that when a child must be removed from their biological parent(s), it is in the child's best interest to be placed with relatives. Because of this, our county partners work tirelessly to find safe and loving kinship (family) homes for children entering foster care. But the burden on kinship families can be tremendous as they work to make ends meet when their resources become stretched while also caring for children who have endured significant trauma.