A few years ago, a Medford couple whose sons were going through the foster care system learned a depressing fact.

As Department of Human Services personnel transported the boys from place to place, their toys, clothing and other belongings were schlepped in garbage bags.

Their father, Chris Anderson, is slated to graduate soon from Recovery Opportunity Court. This program through Jackson County Circuit Court offers people with a history of addiction and criminal behavior a chance to avoid prison through rigorous drug treatment and a path to stability.

For his community-based project — a requirement of the program — Anderson is asking for donations of backpacks and duffel bags for the possessions of local foster kids.

“What little stuff they have is kind of precious to them,” Anderson said, “and they’re already in a situation where it’s out of their power.”

He hopes that, if foster children are given decent luggage — the kind that vacationers use — it may help ease the trauma of being uprooted.

Twyla Williamson, president of the Jackson County Foster Parent Association, has fostered children with her husband for about six years.

“When kids are dropped off at my home, a lot of times, their items do come in a garbage bag,” she said.

The local Department

of Human Services office could not be reached for comment.

The idea of replacing

garbage bags with backpacks has gained popularity through blogs, social media posts and advocacy organizations. Businessman and

author Rob Scheer, once a

foster child himself, founded Comfort Cases, which

gives foster children backpacks filled with items of self-care, from hygiene products to blankets and stuffed animals.

The goal is to reduce the aura of disposability that comes with being a foster

kid.

Anderson’s partner, Alyssa Branam, recalled visiting two of her sons at a visitation center while child welfare was trying to place them in a foster home.

When she saw their belongings in black trash bags, her heart broke. Other children had similar bundles with them, she said.

It makes them feel like trash, she said in an email.

Before Anderson entered ROC, he faced prison time for a series of felonies, including several thefts.

The promise of raising his children himself motivated Anderson to finish the program, he said.

“I was in jail, and I was

like, ‘Well, I can either keep messing up, or I can be the person I need to be, and be there for my daughter to be born, and be there for my kids,’” he said.

Four of his children are living with him and Branam again. A fifth, who has special needs, is transitioning slowly back into their home.

Anderson and Branam know what they put their children through. What the kids endured, while their parents sobered up and pulled themselves together, is symbolized in what they carried with them at a time when the outcome was in doubt.

“It’s not — in any way, shape or form — their fault,” Anderson said, “and they’re the ones that suffer because of it.”

Williamson said of Anderson’s project: “He’s showing a great deal of empathy for what his children went through and how they were treated. I want to meet him and shake his hand.

“I think that is fantastic, and a fantastically healthy perspective of how to make change in a system that can be really broken.”

CASA of Jackson

County has agreed to serve as a drop-off point for donations.

The organization will accept backpacks and duffel bags, as long as the items are new, but not suitcases. CASA will share excess donations with the foster parent association.

Anyone interesting in making donations of new or used luggage can reach Anderson at pure.cut.clothing.company@gmail.com.