Matt Waller hopes to lose his job — because that would mean there is no need for someone to organize efforts to provide clothing, diapers, beds and more for Midland-area foster families.
But until that happens, Waller will remain devoted to the work he invented for himself, a calling that now dominates his life.
“We want to work ourselves out of a job,” he told Midland Times.
Supplies are always on hand in The Attic.
Waller, 39, is the executive director of the The Attic Foster Network, which helps provide essentials to foster families by recruiting help from churches and the community. His wife Jen Waller, 38, serves as the program director.
“Before this, Jen was a stay-at-home mom but really has been the muscle of the organization since it started,” Waller said. “All the while homeschooling our children two days a week in partnership with the Midland Classical Academy homeschool/in-school hybrid.”
They co-founded the program in 2016 while serving as foster parents. The idea — and the name of the organization — came to them in a flash.
Jen asked Matt to run up to their attic to get a child’s car seat. When he brought it down, she told him it was the wrong one.
Matt then retrieved a second seat, but once again Jen said it was the wrong size for the child coming to their home. There were no other options, he told her.
“I told her, ‘Unless you’re thinking of a different attic, we’re stuck,’” Waller recalled.
It got them thinking. They needed another attic — a far bigger one stocked with items to help foster families. Soon they added four shelves in their garage, and people donated items for them to share with other foster families.
They opened a bank account to deposit the increasing donations, and needed to form a company. Matt Waller had been teaching in a classical school, reading “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” with his students as well as leading a class about how to be a man — and face the responsibilities that come with it.
But he left the classroom and moved into The Attic.
“It’s become my life,” he said. “No one was advocating for those kids. No one was bringing them into the light. We said, ‘Let’s do this.' Then, we said, ‘Let’s do this full-time.’”
The need definitely exists, as Waller says there are about 40,000 foster kids in Texas. The Permian Basin has 285 children in foster programs.
AdoptUsKids.org provides information from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services on the number of foster children in the country.
“According to the most recent federal data, more than 400,000 children are currently in foster care in the United States,” the AdoptUsKids website states. “They range in age from infants to 21 years old (in some states). The average age of a child in foster care is more than 8 years old, and there are slightly more boys than girls.
“Children and youth enter foster care because they have been abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents or guardians. All of these children have experienced loss and some form of trauma. In other ways, foster children are no different from children who aren’t in foster care: They are learning and growing, like to play and hang out with friends their age, and need the love and stability a permanent home provides.”
Community partners
All those kids need homes, and those homes need beds, furniture and other items. The kids need clothes and shoes and myriad other things.
The goal of The Attic is to provide those necessities to foster families. Waller says they rely on churches, since the state of Texas works closely with churches to provide foster care.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) utilizes the Texas Faith-Based Model, a joint effort between DFPS and faith-based communities of all denominations and religious affiliations. According to the DFPS website, its goals are to promote positive outcomes for children and families, enhance the well-being of children by shortening their stay in the foster care system, find kids a permanent home as soon as possible and improve community relations.
“While DFPS works to ensure children are protected, the need for permanency and connection is equally as important. The child welfare system alone cannot meet the needs of children and families,” the agency states on its website. “As part of the Texas Faith-Based Model, DFPS provides information to local congregations about the needs of children and families in their area. The local congregation then decides what type of ministry to develop. DFPS assists with information, attending meetings and answering questions about the children and families needing help.
“Congregations assist in many ways, such as day care, parties for special occasions, transportation, becoming respite-care providers, babysitters, foster parents or adoptive homes. The services range from prevention to permanency.”
Waller says the DFPS regional faith-based specialists are swamped with work. His area has one specialist covering 30 counties. That’s why volunteers are crucial in dealing with the number of kids who need a safe place to stay.
“The value comes if we can get the church and the community involved in this,” he said.
The Wallers are members of the Midland Bible Church, and their faith is a major reason they do this work.
“Before coming to Midland, I spent nine years in Christian camping,” Waller said. “Our faith in Christ guides every part of our life.”
The Attic serves as a support system for foster families. Waller says that when he works with churches, he finds out in which areas they excel. Some raise money well while others do an exceptional job on drives to collect diapers, clothes or other items.
Some provide babysitting services so that foster parents can enjoy a rare night out. That’s important, too, Waller says.
There are also churches with members who donate their time and skills to help people in other ways. Recently, a woman wanting her son back in the home needed a pair of air-conditioning units obtained and installed. She also needed her lawn cleaned up.
Six men from a local church set to work one day. After two and a half hours, the AC units were installed and the lawn was immaculate.
“It was really a great day,” Waller said. “That child was home. That child was with his mom, whom he loves. It was a great day.”
The COVID-19 impact
The Wallers have served as foster parents in the past. They adopted one foster child, Jaden, who is part of their family along with their biological children Emma, Ty, Knox and Kendall, with another baby due in December.
They are not taking in any foster kids now, both because of the size of their family and because they realized they could either “care for one foster kiddo,” as Waller put it, or serve hundreds of families.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Waller said they were averaging service for one child per day. Those numbers have declined, in part because of fewer reports of kids who need foster homes.
That is directly tied to school closures, Waller says, since teachers are the leading source for reports of children in need of assistance. Without them keeping an eye on kids, the number of children placed in foster homes has dropped.
Medical professionals also spot the signs of abuse or neglect. But with people reluctant to go to a doctor or seek medical care, the number of reports from that sector has dropped as well.
State agencies are scrambling, Waller says, and reports have surfaced of more children dying in their homes, possibly due to abuse. The problem is not in state-licensed foster homes, he says, but in other situations where vulnerable kids are staying.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) paints a grim portrait of these largely unseen and unheard victims of the pandemic.
“Children are specifically vulnerable to abuse during COVID-19,” SAMHSA reports on its website. “Research shows that increased stress levels among parents is often a major predictor of physical abuse and neglect of children. Stressed parents may be more likely to respond to their children’s anxious behaviors or demands in aggressive or abusive ways. The support systems that many at-risk parents rely on, such as extended family, child care and schools, religious groups and other community organizations, are no longer available in many areas due to the stay-at-home orders.
“Child protection agencies are experiencing strained resources with fewer workers available, making them unable to conduct home visits in areas with stay-at-home orders. Since children are not going to school, teachers and school counselors are unable to witness the signs of abuse and report them to the proper authorities. Also, many at-risk families may not have access to the technology children need to stay connected with friends and extended family.”
Waller says there are other issues as well. It’s difficult to get people fingerprinted for background checks and in-person training has ceased. That reduced the number of foster homes, and there already is a shortage.
Waller says that 85% of their kids leave the county, and 60% leave the area, sometimes as far away as Houston.
“They get torn out of their community,” he said. “We don’t have enough foster homes, is what it comes down to.”
Waller also says that 75% of kids in foster care are there because they were neglected, with the parents unable or unwilling to provide for their needs. Many of those parents can get their kids back if they get their lives on track again.
However, 25% of foster-care kids are removed from their homes because of abuse.
The Attic started in the Wallers’ home but now rents space from Foster Restoration Ministries, a “close partner agency” led by their friends Bonnie and Tyler West. While Matt and Jen still do most of the work, they have added a program coordinator.
Waller says that while they are still growing, he hopes more people will join the cause and when someone calls for help, he can connect them with a church or a pastor who can assist them. But right now, he’s kept busy stocking The Attic.
To contact The Attic Foster Network, call 432-203-5977 or go to its website to send an email.