Photo credit: Packs of Love Foundation Instagram; donating care bags to the youth
Nearly three years after the Packs of Love Foundation became a nonprofit, Sapheria Emani Samuels wears many hats as the organization’s founder and executive director. As the leader of her nonprofit, Samuels oversees daily operations to ensure it runs efficiently and effectively.
Samuels started Packs of Love in 2023 after witnessing firsthand how the foster care system failed to provide adequate care for young children while working as a social worker in 2020. Packs of Love focuses on tackling the decline in mental health, instilling confidence, helping youths reach their fullest potential, and providing the necessary resources to allow them to be successful outside of foster care.
“We’re here to instill confidence within their capabilities, [and] show them some of the resources that they have to help them be successful in the future,” said Samuels.
As a social worker, Samuels saw declining behavioral issues and fragile emotional stability among the youth who lived in the system. Instead of individualistic care and attention, she saw many kids “pushed through the system,” rather than being taken care of as a priority.
“I said when I left social work, I wanted to start something of my own. Packs of Love serves an important role in the community because a lot of our kids are overlooked and marginalized,” said Samuels.
This year, the non-profit spearheads a new pilot initiative, “The Moments that Matter Project,” to sponsor the Carlton Manor group home. Currently, they oversee nine young girls, including two graduating high school seniors whom the organization will sponsor to attend prom. Samuels understands that many kids in the foster care system do not have a sense of normalcy due to the precarious living situations of foster care.
“A lot of our kids miss out on certain milestones because, one, they feel like what’s the point, two, they’re moved around, and depending on the group home, sometimes there’s limited resources,” explained Samuels.
Packs of Love will sponsor a hair salon, a hair stylist, and nail tech for the seniors to “provide them that sense of normalcy.” The “Moments that Matter Project” falls under the organization’s Access to Normalcy Program.
Partnerships with the foundation include Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg and Ryan Nece Foundation, to name a few. The former partner collaborates with the nonprofit to build the organization’s capacity, while the latter works to raise supplies for care packages for schools in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties.
Within the three years since its conception, Packs of Love has received three grants totaling $25,000 that have supported its goal and mission to empower and care for youths in the foster system. They received $10,000 from Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, $10,000 from Pinellas Community Foundation, and $5,000 from Allegany; the funds were split among providing mental wellness support for the board & staff, increasing the nonprofit’s internal capacity, and providing supplies for programs.
The next upcoming event for the foundation is their second annual “Cheers to Change” on May 16 from 5 PM to 8 PM at Wrigley’s Pizza.
“Packs of Love are here to stay. We are growing and thriving,” exclaimed Samuels.
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Photo Credit by Packs of Love Foundation Instagram: Sapheria Samuels packing care bags for the youth
