2020
ANNUAL
REPORT
2020 2020...an unforgettable year. There was little in 2020 that looked as we planned. This was true for Chosen for Life Ministries, our families, our schools, and our community. Things did not go as planned; things did not go as we hoped. Amidst so many challenges, I think the most common refrain of 2020 was “things are not as they should be.”
We entered last year with some really big plans. After all, we intended for 2020 to be the year to celebrate all that God had done in our small ministry in the last 10 years. That’s right, in addition to a year of a global pandemic, 2020 was also Chosen for Life Ministries’ 10th anniversary. In February, we kicked off the year with our largest conference to date. 294 adults gathered at Prince Avenue Baptist Church for our 9th annual conference. A few weeks later we held our largest Choosing to Care Banquet at Athens Church, where Rebekah Lyons joined us as our keynote speaker. But only weeks later, everything seemed to change, as our community, state, country, and the world rapidly felt the impact of Covid-19. While we may have felt as though everything had changed, the truth is that our God is resolute, unchanging, and forever faithful. He is our constant in the storm. While our efforts to care for foster, adopted, and vulnerable children changed last year, our hearts for the children and families also remained steadfast. We thank you that you too did not waver in the midst of so many unknowns. We are so grateful for your partnership as we continue to support foster and adoptive families. Last year, things were “not as they should be” for our world, but this continues to be true for vulnerable children in our community and around the world. Our work is not done.
Anna Bearden, Executive Director 2
It has been wonderful to always be able to count on a meal once a week and to know that we have people praying for us and our kids. I appreciate how our care team has for days when our children court Thataismeal always very comIt hasprayer beenvigils wonderful to always behave able to hearings. count on forting to me. once a week and to know that we have people praying for us
and our kids. I appreciate how our care team has prayer vigils for days when our children have court hearings. That is always very comforting to me. And some more words will hopefully go here to make this box a bit longer.
“We started our adoption journey in February of 2020. As an airline family, our income was deeply impacted throughout the pandemic. We were fearful and our future seemed uncertain, but we felt God was calling us to adoption and we made the decision to follow Him. God was faithful to provide! In less than a year, and with the help of Chosen for Life Ministries, we were able to fully fund our adoption. We matched with a beautiful little girl in August and cannot wait to bring her home as soon as the China program reopens for travel.” Andrew and Laura Cooper, 2020 Adoption Assistance Grant Recipients 3
“It has been wonderful to always be able to count on a meal once a week and to know that we have people praying for us and our kids. I appreciate how our care team has prayer vigils for days when our children have court hearings. That is always very comforting to me.” Rory and Jessica Mathisen, local foster family
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OUR PROGRAMS Education Support
We provided educational opportunities to foster and adoptive families to equip them to care well for the children in their homes. In addition to our Choosing to Care Conference with Dr. Sharen Ford, we hosted five virtual Learning to Care opportunities throughout the year on special topics. We gave 1,635 continuing education credit hours to participants.
Adoption Support
One of the primary goals of our Adoption Support program is to remove financial barriers to adoption. In 2020, we joyfully and expectantly planned a brand new fundraising event called Help + Hope. Our mission is to help churches, communities, and families care well for foster and adopted children. With that in mind, the focus of Help + Hope is to support the people and places in our community that care for vulnerable children in our state’s child welfare system. Despite a postponed event due to COVID-19, we successfully held our first Help + Hope event on August 29. We raised $33,713 for adopting families with the help of 20 volunteers.
Foster Care Support
The primary goal of our Foster Care Support program is to educate, equip, and support churches to care for vulnerable children and families. We are constantly seeking new churches to partner with, while continuing to serve those that are already engaged in child welfare. 2020 began as expected. There were 1,173 children in care in Region 5. As the pandemic began, children across the region sheltered in place, and we helped Care Teams transition to contact-free service. We knew foster families needed the ongoing, wrap-around support like child mentors, meals, and transportation, now more than ever, but we also knew we needed to keep families and volunteers safe. As the pandemic continued, we saw DFCS offices close and staff transition to balancing case loads from home. Despite the incredibly difficult year, we were able to continue meeting needs of local foster families and DFCS staff because of the generous and timely support of local churches. Despite the difficult circumstances throughout 2020, we had 886 volunteers continue to serve on 91 teams. 5
A YEAR IN REVIEW BY THE NUMBERS
TOTAL RAISED $445,377 SPENDING
PERCENTAGES 18%
Administrative
22%
60%
Program Expenses
Fundraising
In 2020, we gave
$4 3, 4 4 0 to adopting families through our Adoption Assistance Grant. After 10 years of awarding grants, we have given
$470,640.
Despite so many difficult circumstances for volunteers, in 2020 we celebrated the formation of our
TWO HUNDREDTH
Care Team to support local foster families with wrap-around, ongoing support. February 2
April 13
9th Annual Choosing to Care Conference
January 20
First case of Covid-19 documented in the US
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July 10
Care packages mailed to local foster families
February 20
Rebekah Lyons joined us for our Choosing to Care Banquet
Encouragement parade for local DFCS staff
April 25
Our first Help + Hope event is postponed
Thank You to Our 2020 Corporate Donors and Sponsors:
Advance Finance & Tax Service Akins Ford Andy Kate Photography Anesthesia Consultants of Athens Arbor Pointe United Methodist Church Athens Pregnancy Center Barnett Southern Corporation Barron’s Rental Center Bath Development Associates Bethlehem Church BG Products Briarwood Baptist Church Butler Landscape + Design Calvary Bible Church Chase Stephens State Farm Covenant Care Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory
Group, LLC Faith Presbyterian Church Golden Pantry Johnson and Brannon Advisory Group Lauren Germany Fox Family Trust Lauren Harrell Design Liberty Hill United Methodist Church Life Church of Athens Lifeline Children’s Services Millstone Homes, Inc. North Georgia Community Foundation Oglethorpe Feed and Hardware Supply Pallas Landscape Presbyterian Village Athens Prince Avenue Baptist Church Randy Booth Masonry, Inc. Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Southeastern Growers, Inc State Farm Companies Foundation The Awakening The Elrod Group, Inc. The Kirby Smart Family Foundation, Inc. The Todd Emily Community Fund The Mango Team Titan Turf, LLC Turner and Patat, LLC Uniting Hope for Children Wallace & Shirley Miller Foundation Wardens and Vestry of Emmanuel Church Watkinsville First Baptist Church Watertight Roofing Webber Development & Construction, Inc. Wisotsky Law Zaxby’s
Board of Directors Bryan Miller, Chairman of the Board
Danny Stevens
Lisa Miller, Vice Chairwoman of the Board
Ruth Ann DeFazio
Vice President, Wayne Farms LLC; adoptive parent
Coordinator, Athens Clarke County Family Treatment Court
Homemaker; adoptive parent
Occupational Therapist, PARMC
Eddie Patat, Treasurer
Michael Azzolin
CPA, Turner & Patat, LLC
CEO, PharmD on Demand, adoptive parent
Jenny Brown, Secretary
Preston Henry
Assistant Professor, University of Georgia; adoptive parent
Work info, adoptive parent
Jordan Downs
Vice President, Central Garden and Pet; foster & adoptive parent
Doug McFarland
Nemili Johnson, Advisory Board Member Founding member of CFLM; adult adoptee, adoptive parent
Engineer, Boise Cascade; adoptive parent
July 29-30
November 13
School supply distribution to local foster families
July 20
First virtual Learning to Care workshop
December 11
Advocate Gathering to thank our Church Advocates
August 29
First annual Help + Hope fundraising event
Christmas at the Drive-in for local foster families
December 2-4 Virtual Small Works Art Show
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NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID
1800 Hog Mountain Rd, Bldg 700-101 Watkinsville, GA 30677 706.705.4257 chosenforlifeministries.org
PERMIT #55
“God doesn’t allow our heartbreak to be wasted. He recasts it and remakes it. He replaces it with joy, reconstructs it into something new.” — Jamie Finn, founder and director of Foster the Family