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Teaming Up to Open New Foster Homes

There’s no good time to be removed from your home as a child – and the holidays might be the worst. Children entering the foster care system because of abuse or neglect deserve a safe, stable place to live.

But that safe place is increasingly difficult to find amid a foster care crisis in North Carolina, where the number of licensed foster homes has dropped by more than 20% since 2021, according to data collected by Fostering Media Connections.

A new collaboration between Methodist Home for Children (MHC) and Community Care of North Carolina, Inc. (CCNC) aims to address this problem.

“In addition to working with foster families on health issues, CCNC is helping to support MHC financially, and we encourage other organizations and individuals to join us in donating to this worthy cause,” says CCNC CEO and President Tom Wroth, MD, MPH.

We cannot overstate the need for families with the heart to parent children in the foster care system, says MHC President / CEO Rev. Bruce E. Stanley, MDiv. “The recruitment of foster families is just the beginning,” Stanley says. “Our parents need training and round-the-clock support in order to care for children who have experienced deep trauma and loss. This requires time and resources.

“The timing of this support is absolutely critical. We are grateful to CCNC for walking alongside us in this important work. ”

MHC will direct the new resources toward recruiting and training foster families, with the goal of increasing the availability of licensed foster homes by 25 percent in the next year.

The alignment of missions made sense for collaboration with MHC, Dr. Wroth says. “CCNC has been working with children in foster care for many years and we understand the special needs of children and youth in foster care. They often have fragmented healthcare prior to entering foster care. This, in addition to placement changes and lack of cohesion between systems, can lead to inadequate connection to a primary care provider and comprehensive care.

“Our statewide care management model allows us to address immediate medical, behavioral, and social needs through tight coordination with primary care providers and Departments of Social Services regardless of where the child is placed, Wroth says. “Collaborating with private placing agencies like Methodist Home for Children can streamline efforts and ensure children and youth get the care and services they need.”

“The season of giving is a good time to consider foster parenting – or perhaps making a donation that will help to license new foster homes in the coming year,” says Christopher Woodfin, CCNC Chief Financial Officer. “In this holiday time, we encourage others in the community to consider donating to Methodist Home for Children as they serve a vulnerable group with many needs.”

If you would like to learn about becoming a foster parent, call 919.754.3647 or visit mhfc.org/foster to submit an interest form and register for the next information session on January 17, 2024.

About Methodist Home for Children

At Methodist Home for Children, we provide safe, stable homes where children can thrive and live to their full, God-given potential. While not always traditional, an MHC home is where child and family are equipped to succeed. We build on strengths, nurturing hopes and goals, and prepare all in our care to shape their own futures.

About CCNC

From the mountains to the coast, Community Care of North Carolina staff work with local primary care physicians and diverse teams of health professionals to develop whole-person plans of care that connect people to the right local resources. For more information, see communitycarenc.org. For information on CCNC’s Foster Care Services, visit this link.

Kaydin

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When I look at you, I see I have a family to go to whenever.
When I hold you, I feel that I am safe and I don’t have to worry if I can eat or sleep that day.
When I smell you, I smell the cupcakes we were eating that day at the celebration of our adoption.
When I first saw you I knew that it was finally true.

When I think about you, I think of all the years that I felt sad but now that I have you I’m happier.
When I imagine my life without you, I picture a place I would feel unsafe.
When I hear others say you are a ring*, I say you are way more to me.
When others see you they think of you as jewelry, I think [of] you as new mom.

When I feel cold on my skin you remind me that I don’t have to worry.
When others say I’m the girl that was in foster care and then adopted, you say I’m that girl that is safe now.

*On the day of her adoption, Kayden was gifted a ring by her new mother, Tina

All that is gold does not glitter;
Not all who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither.
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.— J.R.R. Tolkien

She was a full-time mom; he was a youth director. They were married, had two girls, and were happy and content. Then an idea got into their heads and would not go away. For 10 years they prayed. At last a door opened and their prayer – to
start a summer camp in eastern North Carolina – became a reality.

Starting a camp led Desta and Sammy to the heretofore unimaginable idea of becoming foster parents. Foster parenting
led them to Maria. And Maria is the spirited, big-hearted, animal-loving daughter at the center of their lives today.

For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord, plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future.— Jeremiah 29:11

You probably know this beloved verse by heart. It was originally spoken by Jeremiah to offer hope to God’s people in exile; today we read it at baby baptisms. It is also appropriate for this story about Desta and Sammy. Becoming adoptive parents by way of starting a camp may seem a bit circuitous, but wandering down this path prepared them for a higher calling, one they had never imagined.

Desta and Sammy wandered, but they were never lost. Instead, deeply rooted in faith, they were open and receptive to God’s plan, a plan that fills us all with great hope for the future.

— Rev. Bruce E. Stanley, President / CEO

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You are the heart of what we do
– and these are the children who need our help

One boy was found walking alone 1½ miles from home. His parents were drug-addicted and violent – but his 6-year-old heart felt only guilt and grief when he was placed into foster care. Another boy was caught stealing. He’d effectively lost his family a decade earlier when his mother died in her sleep. His father was absent – and this 14-year-old felt “thrown away” when he was delivered to our crisis & assessment center.

Most days, that is how kids come to us, feeling unlovable and incapable. What they need are people who care. That is who we are – Methodist Home for Children and you.

For the young boy, care meant an adoptive family embraced him and understood that, while past trauma may still hurt him, it will not define him. He is theirs. For the teenager, care meant somebody made him meals and expected him to be in his classroom seat every day. It meant somebody from our crisis center drove 260 miles round-trip to check on him when he moved to one of our group homes – an expression of love he had not known in years.

And so it happens, day in and day out, that we care specifically and individually for the children who come to us, knowing that each one wants to be loved and accepted. No matter what age, race, or gender, they all want someone to believe in them, to praise them, to cheer them on, and to set safe limits.

Together we do this, in service to God, so that children can grow up safe and secure.

Thank you for being the heart of what we do. We wish you peace and happiness in the New Year.