A SIMPLE GUIDE TO
SUPPORTING FOSTER & ADOPTIVE FAMILIES FOUR PILLARS OF SUPPORT With so many needs and so many opportunities, where does your church start? Consider "framing" the ways you support families through these four pillars:
1. TANGIBLE Foster and adoptive families need stuff! Meals, clothes, cribs and more! Caring for children requires SO MUCH stuff!
2. RELATIONAL Foster and adoptive families need community. Their shared experiences create safe places to be encouraged.
3. EDUCATIONAL Foster and adoptive families need training. Learning from experts on trauma and parenting is important.
Launching a “Wrap Around” ministry at your church is crucial to the support and retention of foster and adoptive families. Children in foster care often have unique needs that require extra attention and energy from parents— on top of all the normal parenting, work and household responsibilities. Lack of support is a main reason parents stop fostering, but families who are well supported in practical ways tend to foster longer and provide better care for children! A "Wrap Around" support ministry also provides a wide variety of unique opportunities for those in your church who are not foster or adoptive parents to engage in the ministry in meaningful ways.
Everybody can do something! From the from the student to the single, the young family to the empty nester and the working professional to the retiree, a wrap around ministry is a beautiful picture of the diversity of the Body of Christ working together for a common good! Everyone can do something!
"You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." 1 CORINTHIANS 12:27
Find Your “Something” We're not all called to do the same thing, but we are all capable of doing something! Everyone can do something to support families that are caring for children through foster care or adoption.
4. SPIRITUAL Foster and adoptive families need hope. Praying for and reminding them of God's good promises will help sustain them. Your church may not directly provide all these pillars of support, but you will want to be connected to other churches, ministries or organizations that do. That way your families will have access to the full range of support they need!
Some ways to “wrap around” families include: Bringing meals Donating supplies Supporting financially Running errands
Mowing lawns Using your business to bless local families Mentoring Praying
The opportunities to get involved are as unique and diverse as each individual member of your church!
What’s your something?