Foster Care
Mobilizing your church to effectively meet the needs of the foster care community
The Crisis:
Currently there are just over 408,000 children in the foster care system in the United States. Each year, approximately 25,000 children reach the age of 18 and age out of the foster care system with little or no support system. The statistics of these young people, once they have aged out of the system, ending up homeless, involved with drug addiction or distribution, incarcerated, sold into human trafficking or dead, is staggering.
The systemic problem of children ending up in the foster care system is directly tied to families with highly dysfunctional environments. This generational tragedy so often includes addiction, abuse, neglect, abandonment and incarceration. There are very few social justice issues that are not associated with these tragic stories.
So how is this cycle of generational destruction broken and who is best prepared to bring change? The Body of Christ, through the Church! There is no other entity who is better prepared to bring hope and healing, mercy and grace, restoration and reconciliation than Jesus Christ and those who represent Him.
How We Can Serve Your Church:
Through our partnership with Lifesong for Orphans, we can connect you to their foster care ministry (The Forgotten Initiative) who mobilizes churches to serve their local foster care communities through:
- Meeting the physical needs of foster children through DRIVES, JOURNEY BAGS, WELCOME HOME BASKETS and FIRST RESPONSE initiatives
- Training and supporting MENTORS for foster children and vulnerable adults
- Rallying around foster parents through FAMILIES SERVING FAMILIES and FOSTER PARENT SUPPORT initiatives
- Providing agency support through PROJECT SUNSHINE visit room makeovers, BEAUTIFICATION TEAMS, and worker appreciation efforts.
Click here for more information on foster care courtesy of Lifesong for Orphans.
“We believe Christian Colleges & Universities across the country are an ideal place to provide a healthy, encouraging and Christ-centered environment to serve foster children and the families who care for them.”
Christian College / University Foster Care Initiative
Objective:
Engage Christian Colleges & Universities to care for vulnerable children in the foster care system and the foster care families who care for these children in their communities.
We believe Christian Colleges & Universities across the country are an ideal place to provide a healthy, encouraging and Christ-centered environment to serve foster children and the families who care for them. By engaging these vulnerable children, the modern- day orphans, we are able to impact the lives of foster children through monthly events and give care to the families who have opened their homes to these children. We also allow our students, faculty, staff and administrators the opportunity to engage the Biblical mandate to care for orphans and join the growing movement to break the cycle of destruction so often found with children who are in the foster care system. This program not only allows us to engage and bring awareness to current students, it sends those same students after graduation back to their churches, communities and potentially their own families, once established, to exponentially grow the foster care movement.
