Seneca Family of Agencies offers support to families and foster families in the local area

ATASCADERO — In December 2022, Specs by Kyla owner Kyla Skinner decided that she wanted to give back to the local community by donating a percentage of her proceeds to the foster care system, specifically, Seneca Family of Agencies. On Tuesday, Jan. 3, Skinner wrote a check for $1,531.18 and sent it off to Seneca.

“When I wrote the check this morning, I felt tears come into my eyes,” Skinner said about the donation. “When I was handed the inheritance from my birth mom, it felt wrong in a way to get that money from her, and I didn’t want to spend it. I wanted to hang on tight to it. So it feels really good to have the business I invested her money in do okay so I can give back. It just feels like it’s connecting those two things for me. So I was literally holding back tears when I stuck it in the mailbox.”

Seneca Family of Agencies offers support to families struggling in the local area. Their main goal is to keep kids with their biological parents, but if that isn’t possible, they give support to both the birth parents and the children when they enter foster care. They also offer support to foster families with therapy, counseling, and any other help they might need. Skinner and her family know the importance of outside support as they fostered a child for a brief time themselves.

“If we can all give a little bit to our community, it can make a big difference. So it feels good to make a little … what feels like could make a little bit of a difference in kids’ lives,” she says of the check.

Skinner went on to say that Dec. 2021 was a really slow month at Specs by Kyla, so she had no idea that she would raise so much money. She picked a fairly high percentage of her December income to donate to foster care because, no matter what, she wanted to be sure to make a difference. She decided to stick with that number no matter how much she made and was ecstatic to see the number keep growing as the month progressed.

“I was really, really grateful,” Skinner stated.

Skinner continued that she’s planning on donating a percentage of her December sales to the local foster system for the foreseeable future. 

“That’s the month my birth mom died, and it’s the month that everybody kind of thinks of giving, so it just feels like an appropriate month,” she added.

To learn more about Seneca Family of Agencies, go to Seneca’s website here senecafoa.org/.