Though fostering a child is not all that much different from raising a child of your own, many people don't place the same significance on it as you might think. Because of this, many foster families feel alienated, alone and isolated. We don't believe that anyone makes foster families feel this way on purpose, but its just hard for everyone to understand what its like without first doing it themselves. This is where we come in! Unity Foster Ministries was formed by foster parents to help fill the gaps and to provide the much needed support to help local foster families have the confidence to weather the storm and continue serving our local youth in care.
It is our #1 belief that the foundation of foster care is deeply rooted in faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. On numerous occasions throughout His life here on Earth, Jesus displayed His love for children. Matthew 18:5 Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on My behalf is welcoming Me. Churches have a very clear responsibility to raise up foster families and teams of Christians willing to come along side these families and support them. Unity Foster Ministries empowers churches to do just that. Through our partnerships with local and state organizations, we help churches to create awareness within their church to form and train teams of supporters to serve foster families within their church AND those in their community who do not attend their church. These teams serve by simply showing these families the love of Christ through their actions as they prepare meals, babysit so that the parents can take the kids to doctor's appointments or attend court, cleaning, lawn services, laundry and various other activities to help alleviate some of the stresses and allowing the parents to simply focus on the children.
When a foster family accepts the placement of a child or children, they are accepting a new member into their family, be it for a day, a week, a month or even a year or longer and during the first week or so it is pretty chaotic. There are pediatrician appointments to attend, court hearings, often times there are changes to schools and daycare facilities, visitations to take the child to, therapies to attend with the child and that's all in addition to your normal every day life. Then there is the relationship building, which is not unlike any other relationship that you take part in. There is usually a "honeymoon" period for a few days or weeks, but then everyone begins to feel more comfortable and the walls start to come down. This is the point at which you often get to truly know who the child really is and what they need from you to feel safe, secure and loved. Unity Foster Ministries tries to attack the chaos for the families by partnering them with one of our many church support teams or team members within our organization to help lift some of the daily burdens so that the families can focus on building these relationships with their new family members. We don't just stop after he first week or two though, we structure services throughout a family's placement period with supports from our partner churches, other partner organizations and from within UFM.
One of our core beliefs is that we can begin to change a child's life simply by being genuinely interested in who they are. Our mentoring program helps to break down some of the barriers put up by children who have suffered so much at such a young age. Our mentors work hand in hand with the children to help them reach their full potential and succeed both in school and in life. They take outings with their new friends, tutor them if need be, they share life skills and experiences with the children and show them the love and support that many of them long for during these difficult times. Though the main focus of our mentoring program are the children in foster care, we understand that to truly change these children's lives, we have to work hand in hand with their biological parents to help them achieve their goals of reuniting with their children. By working with foster parents to help them feel more comfortable mentoring biological parents, we can truly change the family as a whole and in turn change the future of the children and their parents.
Unity Foster Ministries has partnered with numerous local and state organizations to provide education and training to local foster families, their friends and family, daycare and school staff and teachers, church and children's ministry staff and the general public. We firmly believe that the only way to bring about change in the foster care system is through regular and continued education. We are so thankful to all of our partners who share this belief and who are willing to come alongside us in bringing about this change!
As a part of the church support team ministries, we help them to organize quarterly social events for their foster families to come and get together as a like-minded body and just get to know each other better. Unity Foster Ministries also holds separate social events to bring larger groups of foster families, support volunteers and community organizations together for the purpose of getting to know one another and creating a network of people and friends that we can each turn to for help and support when we need it. This aspect is crucial in the growth of new foster families and the growth and confidence of our existing foster families. It is through these new friends and relationships that the foster families begin to realize that they are not alone on this journey and that they have an entire community of people that they can turn to for help and advice.
Throughout the year, Unity Foster Ministries works with local churches and organizations to host special events aimed at bringing awareness to the foster care as well as providing safe and fun places for foster families and the public to interact. These events range from parent night out events and foster parent socials to educational and fundraising events. To find out more about our upcoming events, check out our Events page and check back regularly for updates.
