Lily Pad #1: May 2022
Department of Social Services Upstate Region Adoptions
This office manages over 275 legally free children who do not have long-term families identified.
These children are from the upstate counties of Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Oconee, Cherokee, Pickens, Abbeville, Greenwood, Newberry, and Laurens, South Carolina.
When speaking with Catherine Harmon, administrator, their needs revolved around “things we could use in our office while children are here.”
1-6 kids were sleeping in this office on a regular basis. They were sleeping on air mattresses in different cubicle spaces or open areas.
The space available for this Lily Pad had previously been a “catch all” space and an eye sore in the office. Our Lily Pad team and volunteers secured the cubicle walls and created a room that, approximately 8ft x 15ft.
BEFORE: storage area for old furniture, luggage, books, and cubicle walls.
AFTER: A comfortable, usable space with an area for case managers to work and kids to have “a soft place to land.”
This rug is machine washable. The futon folds into a bed and has a 5 year warranty.
We try to include a glider or rocker in every Lily Pad. Children with sensory needs can benefit from just 5 minutes of a rocking motion. It helps their minds to calm and prepare to receive information.
A desk to complete school work includes two new chromebooks.
"Do small things with great love."
This shelving unit holds decorative items and serves as practical storage, holding linens for the bed and chair, housing the Xbox equipment and an air purifier, sound machine and nightlight.
This chair is perfect for gaming but also folds flat into a sleep space when necessary. The cover zips off for easy washing.
Linens are provided to each Lily Pad, including satin and cotton pillow cases.
“We have had children waiting in this office every day for the past 27 months.” - July 2023
After learning this fact, our team knew it was time to add “Un Poco Lily Pad” to the Upstate Adoptions office in Greenville, SC. Now, with two completed Lily Pad spaces, the professionals working in this office have the option to separate older and younger children, boys and girls, children with special needs, a child struggling through difficult news, or even simply a child who wants to sleep and a child who wants to be awake playing and watching TV.
“Un Poco Lily Pad” [A Little Lily Pad] was generously sponsored by Jay and Kristi Gilstrap of Gilstrap Family Dealerships in Easley, South Carolina.
