Our Mission
Community supported wraparound care for foster/kinship/reunified families ; Surround our kids with local love.
Our Goal at Foster Supports
Providing support for kids and families throughout foster care, kinship care, and reunification.
As of March 2024, we are serving approximately 50 families –either licensed foster parents, relatives, or biological parents whose children are recently returned in Jefferson County, WA. Foster Supports is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, run by volunteers.
Connecting with the Community
As soon as a family signs up with us, we contact them and ask, “What do you need?” As a fast-moving non-profit organization, we reach out to our community to help us quickly provide large and small solutions – a dinner, new shoes, kids’ clothes, financial help with childcare. We’ve provided desks, cribs, stair treads, computers, meals, basketballs, cleaning items, beds and lots and lots of diapers. We make things happen for our families.
To focus our efforts, we developed programs specifically designed to answer the needs of our families and their children.
Our Board
Elsa Golts
Elsa is a retired social worker that can’t seem to sit idly by when there are foster children out there needing a warm loving family that is surrounded in love and support. Elsa worked in the mental health field primarily with children and families in Indiana, California, Oregon and Washington. She and her husband raised 2 sons in Oregon who still reside there, one in Hood River and one in Portland with wives and grandchildren. Travel, folk dancing, gardening, and especially grandma time fills the days. Elsa loves living in Port Townsend amidst two brothers, their wives and with all our area has to offer.
Cathy Effmann
Cathy was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended the University of Cincinnati and graduated with a BS in early childhood and elementary education. She also met her husband John while there. She taught and substituted for over 25 years while raising their two children, Jason and Erin. After living in multiple cities they retired in 2016 and moved to Port Townsend. Cathy helped start Foster Supports and now is responsible for the clothing closet as well as the Kicks for Kids shoe program. In addition to being a Grandmother (Nana) of six, her other interests include: gardening; fiber arts; reading and traveling.
Judy Drechsler
Judy lives in Port Townsend in a renovated 1867 Victorian with her dog Emma. Having worked all her life with kids in the classroom Foster Supports was a natural road to hop on in retirement. Judy spent most of her teaching career in Anchorage, Alaska where she taught literacy courses for the University of Alaska Anchorage and was a full time primary teacher in the Anchorage School District. She retired to Port Townsend, WA in 2000 with her husband Mac who passed away in 2017. Three daughters, 4 grandchildren, poetry writing, singing and Bridge keep her busy along with working for Foster Supports and other volunteer opportunities in Port Townsend.
Gary Frogner
Gary grew up in Chehalis, Washington where 48 years ago he fell in love with his wife Cindy. They traveled the world during a 20 year career as a submarine officer, raised two daughters (Melody and Emily), and felt privileged to welcome numerous homeless children into their family. Gary received a BS in Nuclear Engineering, MS in Oceanography, and 90% completed a 2nd BS in Environmental Science. With a continuing love for science, he became west coast regional director of a national research and development firm. He has been certified as a Master Training Specialist, Curriculum Developer, Professional Project/Program Manager, and is a licensed pilot. Gary is currently the regional Volunteer Coordinator for Office Moms & Dads providing comfort for foster kids at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). He has volunteered extensively over his lifetime as a scoutmaster, venture coach, explorer advisor, tutor, athletic coach, ski-bus chaperone, and served on multiple school committees. He currently resides in Chimacum where he enjoys guitars, horses, fishing, sailing, and skiing, but most of all - being “grampa”.
Susan Jacob
Susan was looking for a major lifestyle change when she came to Port Townsend from Detroit in 1989. Her background is in business management. She managed, then later owned an outdoor retail store from 1995 until 2017. She has always taken an interest in the welfare of children. She raised her own two sons and now enjoys her grandchildren. Susan has volunteered with Jumping Mouse Childrens’ Center, and is a former board member. She first joined Foster Supports as a volunteer in our Clothes Closet and later joined the board. She is the incoming secretary of the Port Townsend Rotary Club board of directors, and a board member of ECHHO. She resides in Port Hadlock with her husband Bill.
Rick Hansen
Rick moved to Port Townsend in 1976, just as he was graduating from college. He discovered soon after, that his grandfather's grandfather had settled in Port Townsend almost 100 years earlier. With his wife, he raised three children, each of whom graduated from PTHS. They also fostered dozens of children. Rick has had several careers here: he worked for several churches, at Port Townsend School District and at several retail establishments downtown before retiring from Discovery Behavioral Healthcare where he worked as a case manager. Rick loves gardening, wood-carving, music and the great outdoors.
Mardelle Hansen
Mardelle grew up in the Chicago suburbs. She went to Loyola University, where she received her BA in Mass Communication with a focus on writing, both for print and video. During that time, she married and her daughters, Liane and Lauren, were born.
She worked as a writer and producer in the corporate environment for 20 years while raising her girls through college and beyond. Divorced for many years, she met and married Jim Goldberg, an architect. They formed a company that designed and built custom homes in the Chicago area. When they retired, they started looking for a second home and decided to buy a house in Port Townsend. They live here now and keep a home in the Chicago area.
Mardelle is a grandma whose daughters and their families live in New Jersey and in Portland, OR. She volunteers as a dog walker at the Humane Society and is on the board of Foster Supports. She’s also in the Community Chorus.
