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MHC Sunday: Change A Child's Life Every day, Methodist Home for Children transforms the lives of children in need—creating order where there was chaos, offering hope where there was despair. Through the grace of God and the unwavering generosity of churches and friends, we are able each year to meet the growing needs of children in our care.
A critical source of support for our work is the annual MHC Sunday collection, taken in United Methodist churches on February 19.
We hope your church will participate in MHC Sunday, and we'd be delighted to send a speaker to share with your congregation the good news about our ministry. Contact Jennifer Cooper at jcooper@mhfc.org or 888.305.4325 ext. 305.
Make an MHC Sunday gift online: Click here.
Download an MHC Sunday bulletin insert: Click here.
Download MHC Sunday Mission Moment notes: Click here.
Download MHC Sunday text for website or newsletter: Click here.
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Underserved Children Get Mental Health Care at MHC It can be hard work parenting a child who has a developmental delay or mental illness. Imagine, then, what it’s like to parent a child diagnosed with both life-altering conditions. MHC serves children who have mental illness/severe emotional disorders and underlying developmental disabilities such as autism. A new report from Disability Rights North Carolina points to a dire need for more services like these in North Carolina. Read more.
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1K for 1KID: Team Shivali Shivali Patel is National American Miss North Carolina Junior Teen, and she's raising money for vulnerable children and families through 1K for 1KID. Learn more.
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RSVP for A Winter's Tale Check out the new site for A Winter's Tale gala and get your tickets now! Cynthia Marshall, President – AT&T North Carolina, will be our keynote speaker this year. Visit awinterstale.mhfc.org.
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Remember Our Children This Christmas As you count your blessings this Christmas, consider a gift that will change a child’s life. You can help by shopping for items on children's wish lists or pick an angel from Krispy Kreme Christmas trees. You can also make a difference when you make a Christmas gift to MHC in honor of a loved one. Learn more.
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Vic Hackley: A Send-Off For HELP Students Life has been hard for many young people in our care, and it will be harder still for those who enter adulthood without an education. That’s why Methodist Home for Children helps qualified students pay the expenses of a post-secondary certificate or degree program and celebrates their efforts with a luncheon each July. A highlight of the annual program is the send-off delivered by Hackley Education and Learning Program namesake Vic Hackley. Read his message here.
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Micheal Cox: One Life Changed Micheal Cox grew up essentially parentless on the streets of Wilson, selling drugs and stealing cars with the people he knew as friends. Methodist Home for Children helped him escape this childhood and go on to earn a Master of Social Work at N.C. State Unviversity. Read what he said about the experience as a featured speaker at Epicurean Evening 2011.
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Epicurean Evening Breaks Record With a gourmet theme and a winning cause, Epicurean Evening raised a record $66,000 for Methodist Home for Children on Sept. 1. Read more.
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The Man From Mount Gilead Raleigh-area friends: Former Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan will be at a signing event later this month for a newly released book about his life in politics, business and civic affairs. He and Sarah, his wife, have been long and loyal friends to Methodist Home for Children, so mark your calendar for Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m., and come join us at Quail Ridge Books.
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Leadership Named to MHC Board Eight members of Methodist Home for Children's Board of Directors started four-year terms on July 1, and the seven-member Executive Committee was seated for 2011-12. Read more.
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A Step Toward Independent Living Teenagers leaving the care and custody of Youth Development Centers (YDCs) are vulnerable to any number of setbacks as they try to make a clean start: gang involvement, crime, substance abuse, unfinished education, employer bias. Most teens can go home and work through the various challenges of this transition, but about 36 percent of the population cannot. For them, Methodist Home for Children is operating a transitional living home in New Bern in partnership with the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (DJJDP). Read more.
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Aging Out: Monica Shares Her Story Childhood for Monica Irwin was not typical or easy. She lived in foster care and group homes and she grieved an adoptive family that didn’t work out. Adulthood, she hopes, will be better.
At age 18, Irwin has reason to hope. She graduates from high school in June and has a Fostering Bright Futures Fellowship to study at Wake Tech. She’s standing on the edge of adulthood, trying to imagine all the possibilities and responsibilities, and she’s doing it without the safety net of a traditional family. As one of 500 teens who age out of foster care in North Carolina each year, Irwin is part of a vulnerable population. A quarter of them drop out of high school, according to national data, and half experience homelessness.
But because Irwin is part of the Methodist Home for Children family, she has access to educational and emotional support that will help her succeed. Read her story, in her own words.
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Against the Odds, An Advanced Degree Congratulations to Micheal Cox, who graduated cum laude on May 14 with a Master of Social Work from NC State! He was one of 76 to earn an advanced degree from this competitive program—a great achievement by any standards. But Cox did it by defying the odds stacked against him in childhood. Read more.
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Thanks For Your Kindness Christmas is a hard time of year to be in a foster home or a group home, but friends of Methodist Home for Children made sure that no child in care lacked for gifts under the tree or a reason to celebrate. With toy drives, parties and infinite kindness, you showed MHC children that they are remembered and loved. We could not have done this without you! See who helped.
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Lawmakers hear from expert on juvenile delinquency Researchers who looked at 700 of the country’s best juvenile delinquency prevention programs have found five practices that are common to each of them. These practices are used at Methodist Home for Children multipurpose homes for repeat juvenile offenders and, on March 22, a retired official from the U.S. Department of Justice told North Carolina lawmakers they should be required of all programs receiving state funding. Read more.
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Gift Establishes The Connie Maynard Program Fund As a longtime advocate for young people in North Carolina, Connie Maynard of Raleigh has invested her time and charitable giving in support of programs that create opportunity, particularly through education. Now her husband and children are honoring her deeply held passion and 16 years of service on the Methodist Home for Children Board of Directors with a $200,000 gift in her name.
The Connie Maynard Program Fund at Methodist Home for Children will support a new vocational / educational program for teenagers who’ve been incarcerated at a Youth Development Center, helping them to avoid gang involvement, find employment and continue their education. This program, unique in eastern North Carolina, is in the early stages of operation in Nash, Edgecombe and Halifax counties, a region where poverty rates as high as 23.7 percent exceed the 14.6 percent state average.
Read more here.
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MHC merges with FACT Specialized Services Methodist Home for Children has merged with FACT Specialized Services, a Jacksonville-based mental health agency, in a partnership that will enhance services to children and families throughout North Carolina. On Jan. 1, 2011, FACT Specialized Services officially became a program of Methodist Home for Children. Read more >
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How Sweet is This?
Krispy Kreme is helping to fulfill Christmas wishes for 60 of our children and teens with angel trees at its five Triangle locations.
Please support these stores and grab one of our angels off the tree. Your generosity will sweeten this Christmas season for children in our care, including:
- babies who come to us with nothing. Not even diapers.
- toddlers who are spending their first Christmas in foster care.
- elementary-school kids who still count on a visit from Santa.
- tweens and teens who are discovering music and fashion.
- and older teens who are transitioning from our care to independent living.
Methodist Home for Children is thankful to Krispy Kreme for remembering these children at Christmas.
Sign up for MHC messages and stay in touch! Send an email to jcooper@mhfc.org with your name and contact information. |
WHAT: Get two dozen glazed doughnuts FREE when you return angel tree gifts to the store.
WHEN: December 1-20
WHERE: Triangle Stores
549 N. Person Street
Raleigh, NC 27604-1299
442 Fayetteville Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
6727 Shoppes of Midway Drive Suite C
Knightdale, NC 27545
11721 Retail Drive
Wake Forest, NC 27587
157 E. Franklin Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
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Remember Our Children This Christmas
You can brighten this holiday season for a child or family.
As you count your blessings—and the names on your shopping list—consider a gift that can change a child’s life. Make a gift to Methodist Home for Children in honor of a friend or family member.
We will notify him or her of your gift with a card of thanks and a message of hope, printed inside:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)
Jennifer Cooper can help you with an honor gift.
Call 888.305.4321, ext. 305, or e-mail jcooper@mhfc.org.
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Epicurean Evening 2010 Breaks Fundraising Record It was a great way to taste some of the best food in Wilmington, but Epicurean Evening 2010 served a higher purpose September 9 as diners gave $56,000 for children and families in the care of Methodist Home for Children.
The donations, a record for the event in its fourth year, will support MHC as it serves more than 1,470 children and families this year. Close to 400 children are in MHC care on any given day, including four boys—ages 3, 4, 5 and 6—fostered by Jayne and Richard Howard.
Jayne Howard traveled from Southport to share details of the family’s story: “I remember one of the family specialists from Methodist Home for Children telling me that if I can give just one happy memory to a child, it may be the one he clings to for the rest of his life,” she said. “We set off to fill the boys’ lives with happy times and documenting them with photos along the way.”
Stories like the Howards’ are what motivates Bento Box Executive Chef Lee Grossman, winner of the 2009 Copper Kettle Award, to take part in Epicurean Evening year after year: “It’s all for the children. That’s really all I care about.”
Bento Box was among 22 businesses that donated food, talent and time this year and one of seven honored for their results:
-- Christi Feretti and Silverio “Smokey” Masters of Pine Valley Market won the 2010 Copper Kettle Best in Show for their popular Spanish paella dish
-- Grossman of Bento Box won Best Decoration and People’s Choice
-- Mark Lawsen of East Restaurant at Blockade Runner won Best Appetizer
-- Tom Harvey of LongHorn Steakhouse won Best Taste
-- Pat Green of Elijah’s won Best Entrée
-- Cindy Laverdiere of Imaginary Friends Bakery won Best Dessert
-- Jody Carmichael of Hot Pink Cake Stand won Best Presentation
Other businesses that helped make Epicurean Evening a success were:
AM Coffee Distributors, Bruster’s Real Ice Cream, Coastal Beverage Co., Coastal Cupcakes, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Duplin Winery, Front Street Brewery, Ice Sensations, Kilwin’s Chocolates, La Gemma Fine Italian Pastries, The Little Dipper, The Lunchbox Gourmet Catering, Rita’s Italian Ice, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Simply Homemade Baked Goods.
Methodist Home for Children has served children and families in North Carolina for more than 100 years. In addition to foster care and adoption, its services include family preservation, gang prevention, family drug treatment, early childhood care, multipurpose homes and higher-education scholarships.
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Do Good With Your Groceries
Support Methodist Home for Children every time you shop at Food Lion or Harris Teeter with your rewards cards. It’s easy and it’s free.
 > Click to register your Food Lion MVP card. Enter code 252335 to link to Methodist Home for Children.
 > Click to register your Harris Teeter VIC card. Enter code 7177 to support our early childhood ministry at the Jordan Center.
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Members Join Board of Directors Six new members have been named to the Board of Directors for Methodist Home for Children, with terms expiring 2014:
Frank Eagles of Wilson is retired president of Wilson Technical Community College.
Joe Mann of Raleigh is executive director at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity School and former director of the Duke Endowment Rural Church Division.
Emily Fulghum Roberson of Raleigh is a freelance writer and former Curtis Media advertising executive.
Nelle Moseley Schantz of Raleigh is marketing director at SAS.
Rep. William Wainwright of Havelock is two-term speaker pro tempore of the N.C. House of Representatives and an ordained minister in the AME Zion Church.
David Witt of Raleigh is a retired IBM software executive and former interim president /CEO of Methodist Home for Children.
Members of the Executive Committee are:
Julie Hans of Raleigh, Chair of the Board
Bruce Stanley of Raleigh, CEO/President
Chris Evans of Raleigh, Vice Chair of Review & Research
Ed Turlington of Raleigh, Vice Chair of Public Policy & Resource Development
Vic Hackley of Chapel Hill, Treasurer
Erik Ross of Apex, Secretary
Jim Hemby of Raleigh, Member at Large
Other Board of Directors members are:
Alton Anderson of Weldon
Linda Coleman of Knightdale
Leonard Fairley of Laurinburg
Billy Griffin of Cary
Bishop Al Gwinn of Raleigh
Wayne Holden of Mebane
Becky Johnson of Winston-Salem
Sarah Jordan of Mount Gilead
Carolyn Justice of Hampstead
Donna McClatchey of Raleigh
Betty Owen of Pittsboro
Bill Stewart of Southern Pines
Sam Sugg of Raleigh
Maria Hammond Tuttle of Wilmington
Brien White of Chapel Hill
Lisa Yebuah of Raleigh
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Leading Expert to Present to MHC Staff Dr. John Lyons, a leading researcher, educator and designer of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment tools, will present his research findings to the MHC staff on May 20, 2010 at MHC Headquarters. Dr. Lyons brings a national perspective to the problems and solutions that North Carolina faces regarding mental health, child welfare and juvenile justice services. He has served as a professor of Psychiatry and Community Medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and as director of that university's Mental Health Services and Policy Program. Currently, he is a full professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. He also authored the book Redressing the Emperor: Improving Our Children's Public Mental Health System.
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MO Alumni Recieve Award Congratulations to MO alumni president Billy Griffin and his wife Peggy, who have been selected to recieve the Fred Fletcher Outstanding Adopt-A-Park Volunteer Award from the City of Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department. The Griffins were instrumental in coordinating park cleanup efforts at Fletcher Park and spearheading a campaign to raise money from their MO alumni to purchase benches that were placed throughout the park. Fletcher Park is located on the former Methodist Orphanage grounds.
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Churches Host MHC's Foster Care Christmas Parties Methodist Home for Children held its foster care Christmas parties for children in the Raleigh, Wilmington and Greenville areas. To read coverage of the Greenville party visit The Daily Reflector. Thank you to St. Mark’s UMC, Pine Valley UMC and Jarvis UMC for hosting the parties in each of these areas. Also thank you to the folks at Edenton Street UMC, Pleasant Grove UMC, Benson UMC and St. James UMC for helping out at the Raleigh Christmas party. All of you helped to make this Christmas season brighter for the children and foster families in our care!
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Alumni Fashion Show is Fundraising Success The first-ever MO Alumni fashion show, held in March at Sunset Beach, has been deemed a big success, raising $4,500 for the Hackley Education and Learning Program (H.E.L.P.). This program awards scholarships to qualified MHC applicants to support post-high school education goals. Many thanks go to Evelyn Callahan Cates, MO class of 1951 and Rom Hardin MO class of 1949, who coordinated this effort, and to the lovely MO alumnae who served as models for the beautiful clothing.
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Guardian Angels Honored MHC Guardian Angels make local news in Wilmington: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/
20100226/ARTICLES/100229760/0/NEWS
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Program Works To Keep Children Out of Gangs MHC's Gang Outreach Program makes local news in Kinston: www.kinston.com/news/children-57983-program-gangs.html.
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Culinary Battle Benefits Children and Families MHC's upcoming 3rd Annual Epicurean Evening Makes the Wilmington News.
The Epicurean Evening provides an opportunity to sample exquisite cuisine from top local chefs and to bid on exciting,… Star News Online
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Extending H.E.L.P. to Dedicated Students On Friday, July 10th, Methodist Home for Children hosted its annual Hackley Education & Learning Program (H.E.L.P.). The program is a grant-making initiative of MHC. Grants are awarded to qualified MHC applicants to support their post-high school education goals.
See the Press Release for more details! (Scroll down the page for Press Releases.)
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Former MHC Youth Stands Behind the System Former MHC youth Micheal Cox offers much needed perspective regarding recent state budget cuts that will drastically affect programs aimed at troubled youth. Watch his interview with WRAL: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5371079/
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United Methodist Churches Churches from across the North Carolina conference participated in Methodist Home for Children Sunday 2009. Contributions helped MHC recruit and support foster and adoptive parents, as well as clothe, feed, and provide for the children in MHC’s care. Once again on Sunday, February 21, 2010 Methodist churches will show their support for the work of MHC.
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Progress Energy contributed 334 volunteer hours to support Methodist Home for Children recently. Five groups of employees helped at the Jordan Child & Family Enrichment Center and at three of our group homes. From painting preschoolers' faces to painting walls and planting shrubs at our group homes, these volunteers made a huge difference. Many thanks!
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Food Lion invites you to use your MVP card to donate a portion of your purchases to Methodist Home for Children. It's easy to support MHC in this way. To register your card go to www.foodlion.com or call 704.633.8250 ext. 3810
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Program Manager is Honored Congratulations to Derrick Crumpler, program manager at our Wayne County multipurpose home, who was awarded the Teaching-Family Association’s (TFA) Distinguished Practitioners Award. He received the award in Calgary, Aberta, Canada, at the TFA annual conference. Read more.
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