Announcement Update: Flourish Fund Announces Award Recipients of Inaugural Innovation Challenge to Strengthen Family Preservation and Foster Care Systems
Faith, innovation, and relationships are key to system-level solutions
Washington, D.C. (May 18, 2026) – Flourish Fund, in collaboration with Eagle Venture Fund and with support from Google.org and the Aviv Foundation, announced the award recipients of the National Foster Care Innovation Challenge, aimed at accelerating human-centered, innovative solutions in family preservation and foster care. Following a highly competitive review of 110 applicants, nine organizations were selected to form an innovation portfolio spanning the foster care continuum. Each organization was chosen not only for its individual strength, but for the role it plays within the broader collaborative strategy to support vulnerable families and strengthen communities in the United States.
"Vulnerable children and families matter deeply to God — and across this country, remarkable people are acting like it. Local leaders are harnessing new technology and approaches to connect resources with needs more effectively, so that more children can be surrounded by the human care they deserve. But too many of these efforts remain small and disconnected, hemmed in by systems that were never designed to love anyone,” said Dan Vogel, Founder and CEO of Flourish Fund. “What actually changes a child's life is a community of care – neighbors, churches, families acting together. Through this innovation challenge, Flourish Fund is grateful to walk with these community innovators as they build a more human, connected system where every child experiences belonging in a safe, loving family."
“Too many youth aging out of foster care face disproportionate risks, homelessness, unemployment, and mental health challenges, not because they lack potential, but because the systems around them were never built to help them thrive,” said Wes Lyons, General Partner of Eagle Venture Fund. “We believe foster care is investable, and that the right technology, mentorship, and support systems can completely change a young person’s trajectory. That’s why we launched this innovation challenge with Flourish Fund: to identify and support founders and nonprofit leaders building real solutions that help young people transition from survival to opportunity. They deserve better, so we have to do better.”
The nine selected award recipients of the Innovation Challenge are:
Cultural Brokers – Prevention & Family Preservation
91% of participating families avoided foster care entry within six months as trusted community members are embedded alongside Child Protective Services (CPS) at the moment of first family contact, reducing unnecessary removals through relationship, culture, and advocacy.
Connections Homes – Youth Aging Out of Care
Enables youth aging out of care to choose their own mentoring family from church communities, supported by a trauma-informed, AI-assisted matching model.
The Table Project – Supporting Foster Care
Mobilizes churches to wrap practical support around foster families (respite, meals, babysitting), helping families open their homes to sibling groups and high-need placements.
Valencia Hills Foundation – Prevention & Family Preservation
Deploys church-based case managers to walk alongside families after first government contact, serving as a proven bridge between the child welfare system and community resources.
Sunlight Verified – Supporting Foster Care
Aggregates fragmented child welfare, background screening, and abuse registry data into a unified verification and risk intelligence platform designed to improve the safety, speed, and reliability of foster care and volunteer screening.
The Enay Foundation – Youth Aging Out of Care
Provides career pathway tools directly to foster youth, which are portable across placements and integrated into school systems, through individualized assessments.
Foster the City – Supporting Foster Care
Activates faith communities as full ecosystems of care for foster, kinship, and biological families.
Springs of Love – Supporting Foster Care
Empowers the national network of the Catholic Church to recruit and support foster and adoptive families at scale.
Kids Matter – Prevention & Family Preservation
Adapts a UK-proven, church-based parenting program for U.S. communities—a deliberate upstream investment in human coaching and relational support.
The five top awardees will each receive a $100,000 investment, and the next four will each receive $50,000. The Table Project and Connections Homes each received an additional $50,000 as Audience Choice Award winners.
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About Flourish Fund
Flourish Fund is a collaborative philanthropy fund solving problems that matter to the heart of God and to our neighbors, that all may flourish. We believe that when generous families give more together, we can do more together and see greater impact collectively than anyone can do on their own. By assembling givers, social entrepreneurs, practitioners, and the Church around bold strategies designed to shift the conditions holding a problem in place, we will see broken systems restored and lives renewed.
About Eagle Venture Fund
Eagle Venture Fund is a global impact venture capital firm consisting of several funds investing in early-stage technology companies that align profit with purpose. With offices in Dallas, Zurich, and Singapore, Eagle targets B2B SaaS, AI-enabled software, fintech, and tech-enabled services that fight human trafficking, poverty, and economic injustice around the world.
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