Safer Kids, Stronger Families, Real Community | Sacramento Parent Magazine

[More information about the Safe Families program]

When a crisis strikes, the support of family can make all the difference in the lives of parents—and their children. “Yet many families don't have a support system, don't have family,” says Laura Richardson of Koinonia Family Services, a foster and adoption agency with four locations in Northern California, including Sacramento. “Without a support system, things are more likely to go downhill quickly.”

A Safe New Solution

Established in Chicago in 2003, SFFC has served over 3,000 children and their families, in 16 states. This successful, quickly-growing program calls on local churches to oversee “safe families” which provide temporary care to children in need, referred through the program. At the same time, the program provides services to the parents, so that they can become safe families for their own children.

...

Currently, 10 local churches, within 10 Northern California counties, are expressing interest in SFFC—and that number continues to grow. Government agencies, educational institutions, and foster related services, like CASA, are expressing their support and excitement, too. For Richardson, the enthusiasm behind SFFC is quite simple: “People just think it makes sense. It’s the way we are supposed to be as a community.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Churches offer alternative to welfare system | The Orange County Register

by Sean Emery

[This is an excellent way to care for children whose families are in crisis, making them effectively "orphans" for a short period of time. It also is a way to extend mercy and grace to a parent in great need as a testimony of Christian faith and love.]

As economic woes put pressure on Orange County families, local churches are stepping up to stop kids from falling through the cracks of the state welfare system by taking in youngsters while their parents get their life in order.

First introduced to Southern California by Santa Ana-based Olive Crest, the Safe Families program has been taken up by some of Orange County's largest church's, where families are volunteering to temporarily take in at-risk youth, while at the same time coaching their parents through tough times.
Unlike kids caught in the welfare system, Safe Families allows the biological parents to maintain full custody, keeps the children within the community, and works to reunite families as soon as possible.
...
Olive Crest is there to provide support and training to church leaders and volunteers, taking care of required background checks and making sure families are ready for the reality of being responsible for taking care of a child. But the program's success also relies heavily on the churches to provide the volunteer families, and to use their existing support network to provide the parents counseling, job assistance or whatever else they require.

Read the rest here.

Building Bridges | WORLD Magazine

2010 HOPE AWARDS | New York program uses the power of mentoring to reach fatherless youth | by Daniel Olasky

[Great example of connecting churches with their community.]

Long Island Youth Mentoring (LIYM), a Christian ministry that connects churches with their communities through mentoring programs, has brokered this partnership between a church and a New York public school. LIYM connects churches to schools, churches to foster homes, and Christian role models to at-risk children and teens, giving Christians the tools and training to mentor those in need.

...

Along with the school and foster care ministries, LIYM also sponsors some 300 one-to-one matches, pairing kids with Christian role models. John Cragg, executive director of LIYM since 1985, says, "The fatherless problem is Long Island's biggest problem. Children raised in fatherless homes are three times more likely to drop out of school, and dropouts are three times more likely to go to jail. It creates a multigenerational spiral downward."

Read the rest here.

All in the Family | WORLD Magazine

What started with care for foster children has branched into more than a dozen programs ministering to people in each phase of family life | by Allie Cook

[Encouraging story of "ordinary people" accomplishing great things by caring for foster children and their families as a natural outflow of faith in Christ Jesus.]

Neighborhood Christian Center has been meeting the material and spiritual needs of Memphis' poor for over 30 years. Founders Monroe and JoeAnn Ballard began caring for the poor in 1968 by taking foster children into their own South Memphis home. From there, the family branched into other areas of ministry and in 1978 opened the NCC, which today has 15 programs based on the Ballards' original work.

...

Their foster care wasn't government-supported or initially even donor-supported. The Ballards merely saw a need and rose to meet it by taking in kids whose parents were unable to support them. The nonprofit center still receives no government funds because that would limit their Christian initiatives in ministry. With private and corporate support, the Ballards have personally been able to care for a total of 75 children—79 if you count their own four.

Read the whole article here.

Look After Orphans | WORLD Magazine

Twenty ways to become an adoption-friendly church | by Paul Golden

[More good ideas describing how churches -- like ours -- can care for orphans!]

While Christians commonly praise adoption, most American churches do not have a single family that adopted a child during the past year. Churches can and should play a crucial role in encouraging members to "look after orphans in their distress" (James 1:27). Here are some specific ideas on how to become an adoption-friendly church:

Read the rest of the article here.

The Adopting Lifestyle | WORLD Magazine

How one couple made the most difficult choice of their lives | by Susan Olasky

[Great stories...]

Last month I wrote about the Rosenows, their 14 adopted children, and The Shepherd's Crook (TSC), their adoption ministry ("Called to Adopt," Dec. 4). TSC works with agencies to find adoptive families for international children with special needs. It also accepts donations on behalf of families as they struggle to pay adoption-related expenses that can amount to tens of thousands of dollars.

Readers wanted to hear more about TSC, so here's the experience of Eric and Kim Elder, who have 10 biological children. They did not plan to adopt, but then a 7-year-old Ethiopian girl with a heart defect appeared on TSC's email list...

Read the rest here.

Called to Adopt | WORLD Magazine

The Rosenows serve God by bringing children with disabilities into their family | by Susan Olasky

[This article has so much to think about. Suffering. Calling. Reliance on God. And note how their local church has a key supportive role in their lives.]

If you think you have a lot on your plate, consider Scott and Kathy Rosenow. At 7:30 a.m. in their home outside Cincinnati, their 14 adopted children, all under the age of 15, begin to roll out of or be carried out of bunk beds, triple bunk beds, and cribs. Most dress themselves, make their beds, and start on chores: scrubbing toilets, vacuuming, sorting laundry. Three of the Rosenow's four adult biological children still live at home. They help get some of the younger and less-abled kids up and going.The adopted children come from five countries—China, Haiti, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Romania—and have varying levels of disability. Three have spina bifida. Two have brain damage. One is blind. Some come from previous failed adoptions—but they've finally found a home.

...

The Rosenows first started thinking about adoption when they heard years ago a radio program with former major league pitcher Tim Burke and his wife Christine discussing their adoptions. As the Rosenows studied the lives of Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, Martin Luther, and William Tyndale, they became convinced that they wanted to "stand for the things that are important to Christ." Eventually that led to adoption.Kathy says it is frustrating to know "the world is so very full of orphans, and no matter how hard we work we are barely scratching the surface in the vast ocean of need. We are forced to keep our eyes on the Author of our story."

Read the whole article here here.