BLESSED July – August 2019 • Vol 45 • No 4 • Est 1975
Serving Arizona Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
HONORED
PIONEER
Pushing, Pulling and Praying, Bound for Zion, by E. Kimball Warren
July 24th is considered a special occasion by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of Latter-day Saint pioneers into Utah’s Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847.
The Faces of Heavenly Father’s
Children
Arizona Latter-day Saint Families Foster Hope as Foster Parents By Merry Gordon
I
t’s estimated that more than 400,000 children will pass through America’s foster care system this year. That’s hundreds of thousands of opportunities—for both foster parents and those who support fostering—to change a child’s life. “As a community, it’s important for us to be aware of the children who are in care and to find ways to get involved, even if it is not becoming
Photo courtesy of Anika Robinson
(l to r) Angela Teachout, Susan Woodruff and Anika Robinson, co-founders of ASA Now.
a foster parent. Everyone has a role to play,” asserts Anika Robinson, of the Gilbert Arizona Gateway Stake. Robinson would know. She is a foster and adoptive parent to ten children (4 biological, 4 adopted and currently 2 foster children with one open bed) who helped pass legislation known as Jacob’s Law, which empowers troubled foster children to get the state help and resources they need. Robinson served
as the Foster Care Community Liaison at AHCCCS [Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System] and is the President of ASA (Advocacy, Support and Assistance for Families and Kids in Need) Now, a foster care charitable organization. The plight of foster children is becoming more visible. With the addition of Karli, a new Muppet, there are even foster children on Sesame Street.
The show explains the heart of foster care: “Sometimes, even mommies and daddies need some help taking care of their children. Karli’s mommy has been having a hard time, so we are her foster parents, or her for-now-parents. We will keep her safe until her mommy can take care of her again.”
ArizonaBeehive.com •
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