“Oh my gosh… a lot,” laughed Kristen Williams, Foster Care Supervisor at Child & Family Services, when asked how many hats she thinks she has knitted. “Probably around 100.”
Kristen’s grandmother taught her how to knit when she was just ten years old. Years later, a college roommate showed Kristen how to use a loom. She now finds herself using the loom all the time, particularly as a way to keep productive while watching TV.
While she gifted hats to friends and co-workers for years, Kristen first made hats for babies in the Foster Care Program in 2020. “I had a lot of time on my hands, just like we all did while in lockdown,” said Kristen. “When I was a Case Planner, I had two siblings come into care. I was already knitting hats and realized that I had never used the baby loom, so I thought it would be fun. The foster parents thought it was so cute!”
Kristen realized that this was a simple way to build a bond between herself and both the biological and foster parents. Caring for a baby in the foster care system offers unique challenges for everyone involved. With so much uncertainty, everyone involved needs to trust one another.
“I think it is a true example of going above and beyond,” observed Morgan Schumacher, Foster Care and Adoption’s Program Manager. “The fact that she goes home and still thinks about these kids just shows how much she cares about them. This is the type of individualized experience we always try to give in our own ways – this just happens to be an adorable way!”
When asked about her relationship with the parents, Kristen said personal touches like the hats help the parents open up to her. “I have become very close with the mother,” shared Kristen. “She calls me all the time, and I am always there to listen to her.”
A photo of the two children who received Kristen’s first baby hats – although they are no longer babies – now sits in Kristen’s office. While discussing the hats, Kristen frequently took quick glances at the photo and smiled to herself.
“I think it makes all of the parents more comfortable with me because it shows that I truly see them as people,” Kristen explained. “They know I have their baby’s best interest in mind.”