How a San Antonio foster care campus is getting creative amid COVID-19 pandemic

Foster care campus has been full since pandemic began

SAN ANTONIO – Trulight Youth Village, a foster care campuses that houses up to 20 children in San Antonio, has had to get creative with activities since the coronavirus pandemic began.

With Child Protective Services home visits on pause, the village has been completely full, said Sondra Ajasin, who runs Trulight 127 Ministries.

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Typically, the ministry helps certify and provide support for parents. Lately, their staff has been finding ways to keep the children busy.

One of those activities was a cook-off, Ajasin said.

“We had the kids come up with their own recipes,” she said. “It had to be made from scratch.”

While the cook-off is a fun hands-on activity, it can be educational too.

“We called it home (economics) and math class because they had to do measurements,” Ajasin said.

As restrictions ease, families are coming out of isolation and the children are able to safely leave from the village to a safe home.

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Still, spots continue to fill up fast as child abuse calls come in.

“We are starting to see an uptick in calls for us to be ready to take these kids in and it’s kind of scary how long they’ve been in isolation they’re in but it’s time now for foster families to be ready,” Ajasin said.


About the Authors:

Courtney Friedman anchors KSAT’s weekend evening shows and reports during the week. Her ongoing Loving in Fear series confronts Bexar County’s domestic violence epidemic. She joined KSAT in 2014 and is proud to call the SA and South Texas community home. She came to San Antonio from KYTX CBS 19 in Tyler, where she also anchored & reported.