Laura Caldwell saw a problem and refused to look away
Before founding New Start, Laura Caldwell worked as a therapist in Van Buren, Arkansas. Many of her clients were foster children. Session after session, she witnessed firsthand the trauma they carried, not just from separation, but from a system that seemed designed to make healing harder. Cold visit rooms. No sense of home. Children who desperately needed connection being given institutional walls instead.
That experience planted a seed. In 2013, she stopped waiting for someone else to fix it.
She founded New Start for Children and Families with nothing but a vision and a stubborn refusal to accept that this was just how things are. Thirteen years later, New Start has become a lifeline for foster families throughout Crawford County and the River Valley.
"Every child deserves to feel at home, even during the hardest chapter of their family's story." , Laura Caldwell, Founder
Today, Laura still answers the phone herself. Still shows up for every family that reaches out. Still believes, after 13 years, that one person with a clear purpose can change things.
New Start for Children and Families
Van Buren, Arkansas
Founder & Executive Director
New Start for Children and Families
"To make the foster care system more humane for children, for families, and for the community by providing a real home environment, material support, and genuine human connection."
What drives every decision we make
Dignity in Every Visit
Foster families deserve to meet in a space that honors their humanity. We will never accept a conference room as good enough.
No Family Left Alone
Whether it is a phone call at 7pm on a Friday or a welcome kit at midnight, we show up. That is not a policy. It is a promise.
Community Rooted
New Start is of the River Valley, by the River Valley, for the River Valley. The people here fund it, volunteer for it, and benefit from it.
How New Start grew
From a single vision to three programs serving families across the River Valley.
New Start Founded
Laura Caldwell incorporates New Start as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Van Buren. Mission: make foster care more humane for children, families, and the community.
Safe Haven Opens
The Safe Haven visitation space opens its doors, offering court-ordered foster visits in a real home environment for the first time in the River Valley.
Welcome Kit Program Launches
New Start begins providing welcome kits for foster families receiving new placements, ensuring no child arrives to an empty room.
Growing Through Hard Times
Through the pandemic and beyond, New Start keeps its doors open and its phone answered. Families in crisis need help, and Laura shows up.
Thrift Store Coming
New Start announces plans for a community thrift store, connecting the broader community to the mission through everyday shopping.
Be part of what comes next.
New Start is growing. The need is real. The work is working. And we need people like you to keep it going.