A Miss Wisconsin hopeful is stepping up for foster families in Racine County through her non-profit Caring Connections.
Reporter Tahleel Mohieldin first met Theresa Guardiola at TMJ4’s Let’s Talk Racine event. Mohieldin caught up with the 23-year-old to learn more about what she’s done so far and her big plans for the future.
“Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always loved serving other people,” Guardiola said.
After working as a care provider for foster mom Jennifer Durbin, Guardiola said she came to see the gaps in service.
Her former boss, Durbin, said the pair spent a lot of time talking about the best ways to support foster families, but it was Guardiola who took it from there.
Guardiola officially started her initiative over a year ago, beginning with Kinship Packages to help families managing a sudden placement be prepared to take in a child.
Packages include things like personal hygiene items, smoke detectors and extinguishers, and blankets.
“As a foster parent we appreciate most any kind of support we can get,” Durbin said. “It’s all those practical things that people need is where we need support.”
For Guardiola, the packages were just the beginning. In October 2023 she launched her non-profit Caring Connections.
Together with her team, she’s currently finalizing the curriculum for their peer-to-peer program, targeting teens aging out of the foster care system.
“We just simply don’t have enough resources for these kids emotionally,” Guardiola said. “We don’t have enough resources for the foster parents who are bending backward for these kids, and we just really need that support in this community.”
It’s work she’s planning to highlight on the pageant circuit. In about two weeks she will be competing for the title of Miss Wisconsin, hoping with the bigger stage comes a bigger voice for families in need.
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