BY JACLYN ROSE –
Currently, Polk County, Arkansas has twenty-nine children that have been removed from their families and have been placed in to foster care. That is even more heartbreaking because there are only seven open foster homes. This results in around 79 percent of Polk County children in foster care being placed outside of their hometown. This takes children, in an already incredibly difficult time and removes them, not only from their families, but also from their school, teachers, friends and community.
The Call is an organization that works with foster families with the mission to educate, equip and encourage the Christian community to provide a future and a hope for children in foster care in Arkansas. The Call works with local churches and follows the biblical mandate of James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” With a vision for, “no waiting children in Arkansas foster care,” The Call works closely with the local Department of Child and Family Services and the local church to recruit, train and support Christian foster families with a goal of opening at least 20 more foster homes in Polk County
The Call was founded in Pulaski County in 2007 and became a statewide organization in 2011. Today, they are in 75 counties in Arkansas and have seen 1,129 homes opened and over 300 adoptions finalized. They begin by recruiting foster families and then assist them with their training at no cost to them, finally they continue to offer support through continuing education opportunities, support meetings and The Call Mall, a store like setting where foster families can collect items needed for their foster children at no cost to them. They also work alongside local churches to continue support foster families in the separate churches emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Bringing The Call to Polk County has been on the hearts of many different members of the community for some time and the foundation has already been laid. A group of individuals have begun working together to develop leadership and volunteer teams and an informational meeting for anyone interested will be held on October Sunday, October 18, 2015 at Janssen Avenue Florist’s Daisy Room at 2 p.m. “It’s our hope to rally many members of our local churches and community to support this work of loving our most vulnerable children. There is truly a place for everyone to get involved. We are not all called to foster or adopt, but we are all called to care,” said Jennifer Brewer. “God has been at work building a support foundation to bring The Call to Polk County for several years. Recruiting, training and supporting additional qualified and caring homes for our children in care is soon to be a reality in Polk County,” added Keith Rose. For more information please contact Jennifer by calling her at 479.216.3677 or by emailing her at thecallpolkcounty@gmail.com.
About Author
Jeri Pearson
Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.
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