Town Hall Meeting for Child Welfare
I attended a Town Hall Meeting yesterday in Bradenton put on by some local government agencies. The purpose was to discuss the overload of kid's in out-of-home care for various reasons, but mainly the local heroine epidemic. I was very pleased to see about 200 people there. I thought that was a good sign. I was able to see many of the people that I have got to know because they are either parts of non-profits or work in government for the purpose of dealing with kids who need help. I was also very pleased to see some local Pastors.
I have been involved with the foster care epidemic in Manatee Country for just over 2 years. So I understand that I'm a new-comer to the table. Our family has gone through the process to adopt and I am on the board for Guardian Angels of Southwest Florida and serve in the 3 county area for the 1-1-1 Project. The Guardian Angels is a group that builds large homes for families to move into and foster children. It's an incredible group of loving and influential people. The 1-1-1 Project is an effort to work through churches and recruit Christian families to get licensed to foster and adopt children in our counties.
As I sat in the meeting I was one of the many who weren't shocked by any of the numbers. We know them and we know them well. It's a crisis. I heard the messages from foster-parents who are under supported and have very legitimate worries with the system. I also heard from government officials who are understaffed and underfunded for the amount of work they need to do. I heard impassioned speeches from community members and officials who's hearts are fully invested in loving our community.
Many people expressed disappointment that the government wasn't doing more or doing it better. One man expressed disappointment that the churches in Manatee County weren't doing anything.
I really don't have an opinion on what the government is or isn't doing. I don't know the inner workings all that well. However, I do know a couple of people that work within the government system and I can tell you that their hearts beat for these kids and broken families. Many of them take care of kids in the system because no one else will. However I have seen an overwhelmed system that seems to go very slowly in some areas.
When the church thing was mentioned I immediately felt defensive. First, because I'm a prideful and insecure person. (I have to put that out there! I pray that one day I will feel at more peace and be closer to where I want to be there. But I acknowledge that I'm currently pretty dang ego-driven.) Secondly, because I looked around the room and saw Pastors there who are working to make things better. I saw faith-based organizations that survive off donations and supporters in order to care for foster families, provide training, build homes, and recruit new families. I also know of people within my own church that are currently working through the system to foster as well as foster and adoptive parents that have been at it for years and years. Thirdly, many churches within our county are doing amazing things to help strengthen families, fight addiction, train children, care for orphans, and teach a more responsible way to live.
I think that represents 4 possible responses that most of us have when a crisis hits (or when we become aware of it).
1. The first is to get angry with the government for not doing more. It's no problem to feel this way unless we feel that we are actually doing something simply by getting angry.
2. The second is to get angry with the church for not doing more. Ditto with the last one. However, this starts to break down when the arguement becomes "someone else needs to do something!" What are you doing?
3. The third is to get involved and then get angry with others for not getting involved as well. It's like when we adopted. I looked around at all the orphans and I thought why don't we all do this? It made me mad for a while. Seldom do I get the results I'm searching for by yelling it at people. I ADOPTED WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!
4. The fourth is to get involved and teach others how to get involved as well and to train or encourage them to get involved in the special way that they can.
In that room of about 200 people I saw a table filled with people in their 70's and 80's. I know many of the people in that group. They didn't talk a whole lot. They didn't yell. They didn't make impassioned speeches. They made decisions a very long time ago to make a change. I'm assuming they got mad. I'm assuming they got discouraged. I'm assuming they believed the government and the church failed in many ways. But that didn't stop them. They didn't believe that being angry, in itself, was doing anything. Many of them fostered and adopted kids long before it was as acceptable and understood as it is now. Many of them have left a family legacy of taking care of kids that aren't your biological kids. All of them have used the talent and resources that God has given them to make a difference in one person's life at a time and they have all done it over the long-haul. The things that those people are doing are things that will live on far after they have left this earth.
I think the evening was wrapped up perfectly when a lady, who didn't even know she would be invited to speak, was asked to come up and address the crowd. I wish I knew her name or where she works! She has been a life-long resident of the county and has worked within the childcare system and now works in the addiction system. She said something like - we don't all need to foster children or work with addiction recovery, but we do all need to do something. She then listed several things that build families and help people.
All in all it was very encouraging to me. Let's keep at it, do what we can do, and encourage our friends to get involved how they can get involved.
I have been involved with the foster care epidemic in Manatee Country for just over 2 years. So I understand that I'm a new-comer to the table. Our family has gone through the process to adopt and I am on the board for Guardian Angels of Southwest Florida and serve in the 3 county area for the 1-1-1 Project. The Guardian Angels is a group that builds large homes for families to move into and foster children. It's an incredible group of loving and influential people. The 1-1-1 Project is an effort to work through churches and recruit Christian families to get licensed to foster and adopt children in our counties.
As I sat in the meeting I was one of the many who weren't shocked by any of the numbers. We know them and we know them well. It's a crisis. I heard the messages from foster-parents who are under supported and have very legitimate worries with the system. I also heard from government officials who are understaffed and underfunded for the amount of work they need to do. I heard impassioned speeches from community members and officials who's hearts are fully invested in loving our community.
Many people expressed disappointment that the government wasn't doing more or doing it better. One man expressed disappointment that the churches in Manatee County weren't doing anything.
I really don't have an opinion on what the government is or isn't doing. I don't know the inner workings all that well. However, I do know a couple of people that work within the government system and I can tell you that their hearts beat for these kids and broken families. Many of them take care of kids in the system because no one else will. However I have seen an overwhelmed system that seems to go very slowly in some areas.
When the church thing was mentioned I immediately felt defensive. First, because I'm a prideful and insecure person. (I have to put that out there! I pray that one day I will feel at more peace and be closer to where I want to be there. But I acknowledge that I'm currently pretty dang ego-driven.) Secondly, because I looked around the room and saw Pastors there who are working to make things better. I saw faith-based organizations that survive off donations and supporters in order to care for foster families, provide training, build homes, and recruit new families. I also know of people within my own church that are currently working through the system to foster as well as foster and adoptive parents that have been at it for years and years. Thirdly, many churches within our county are doing amazing things to help strengthen families, fight addiction, train children, care for orphans, and teach a more responsible way to live.
I think that represents 4 possible responses that most of us have when a crisis hits (or when we become aware of it).
1. The first is to get angry with the government for not doing more. It's no problem to feel this way unless we feel that we are actually doing something simply by getting angry.
2. The second is to get angry with the church for not doing more. Ditto with the last one. However, this starts to break down when the arguement becomes "someone else needs to do something!" What are you doing?
3. The third is to get involved and then get angry with others for not getting involved as well. It's like when we adopted. I looked around at all the orphans and I thought why don't we all do this? It made me mad for a while. Seldom do I get the results I'm searching for by yelling it at people. I ADOPTED WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!
4. The fourth is to get involved and teach others how to get involved as well and to train or encourage them to get involved in the special way that they can.
In that room of about 200 people I saw a table filled with people in their 70's and 80's. I know many of the people in that group. They didn't talk a whole lot. They didn't yell. They didn't make impassioned speeches. They made decisions a very long time ago to make a change. I'm assuming they got mad. I'm assuming they got discouraged. I'm assuming they believed the government and the church failed in many ways. But that didn't stop them. They didn't believe that being angry, in itself, was doing anything. Many of them fostered and adopted kids long before it was as acceptable and understood as it is now. Many of them have left a family legacy of taking care of kids that aren't your biological kids. All of them have used the talent and resources that God has given them to make a difference in one person's life at a time and they have all done it over the long-haul. The things that those people are doing are things that will live on far after they have left this earth.
I think the evening was wrapped up perfectly when a lady, who didn't even know she would be invited to speak, was asked to come up and address the crowd. I wish I knew her name or where she works! She has been a life-long resident of the county and has worked within the childcare system and now works in the addiction system. She said something like - we don't all need to foster children or work with addiction recovery, but we do all need to do something. She then listed several things that build families and help people.
All in all it was very encouraging to me. Let's keep at it, do what we can do, and encourage our friends to get involved how they can get involved.
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