City Ministries is excited to share with you over the next weeks all about our foster care program and child placement agency. This week’s blog is about our beginnings, and each week for 10 weeks I will share more of our story!
I can still remember receiving the phone call from our then Executive Pastor, Gini Smith asking me to come and speak with her about a project she was trying to get started. At the time I was considering a teaching position, and my interview was delayed (divine intervention), so I drove to City Church (now Churchome) instead. We talked about foster care and children in need -and then I was asked to start up a foster care agency! I am not trained as a social worker-rather a business major, and immediately started thinking of others I could involve in making this dream to serve children a reality. I agreed and said, “Yes” and now we are celebrating 10 years together! We began engaging with City Church by having interest meetings after Sunday and Wednesday church services. Announcements were made, and our community responded. Those first months, our meeting rooms overflowed with hundreds of people who wanted to help: be on the agency work team, volunteer, provide respite, handle visits, provide fulltime foster care, and help finish the cottages.
In 2007 we broke ground on the Rose Hill Cottages, and the first phase of homes were nearing completion in the Spring of 2008. Pictured at left is the dedication ceremony, led by Pastor Gini (President of City Ministries), Pastors Judah & Chelsea Smith, The Reece’s (CM founding board members), The Soules, Venti’s and many others who gave sacrificially along with The City Church Community to make it all possible. We began the work to build the agency from the ground up in March 2008 and were fully licensed by late November of the same year. We felt great momentum and City Church gave towards the building of the cottages, 5 families signed up to be foster parents, and over 20 professionals volunteered to be part of the agency work team. The work team met 4 times and spent all day on Saturdays looking at how we could set up foster parent training, and licensing process to be good for children, foster parents, and biological families. We used the state requirements in the WAC as our base and then went from there. As we reflect on our original policies and procedures- many of the additional requirements we added in 2008, are a part of the WAC (Washington State Administrative Code) today. The staff of City Church, along with volunteers had work days – although I don’t know how much work was done by some of our team…but it was so much fun! Pictured here are some of our volunteers, the late Pastor Aaron Haskins and one of City Ministries Board Members, Dave Heindel.
We were all energized, faith filled and ready to see what the Lord would accomplish through us! We hired our first licensor, Joelle Dunn who was instrumental in setting the tone for how we would interact and support our foster parents through the process and after they completed licensing and had children in their homes. Our first cohort of parents were: Liaza Nunn, Ernie & Kristy Lara, Elijah & Anne Marie Waters, and Darin & Sheri Britsch. Our very first Case Manager was Yurika Gillum, who still serves on our consulting team today.
The late Pastor Wendell Smith, was dedicated to this vision along with Pastor Gini Smith and was steadfast in his support of blessing children and families. This is where and how we started with more of the story to be told over the next few weeks and months! Now that the cottages are built, and the program is established and growing, we are busy doing the work of the ministry. More of the story next week!
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27
If you would like to give to foster care please click on this link: GIVE
