N O V E M B E R
IS NATIONAL
O R P H A N
MONTH
Hey Churches, Let’s Tackle The Foster Care Crisis
BY AMY MORGAN
WRITER
Almost five thousand kids (4975)
reside in foster care throughout San
Antonio – let the weight of that sink in
– it’s not just a number. That’s equivalent
to the student population of two
6A-high schools. Each single digit
represents a child removed from his or
her family due to a tragedy. Each a
child with a name and a face, made in
the image of God, who needs love, care
and healing from trauma they’ve
experienced.
“Everybody hates that kids are
We CAN do this!
hurt,” said Jennifer Smith, founder and
executive director of South Texas
Alliance for Orphans. “Forty percent of
the homeless population, seventy-six
percent of sex trafficked victims and
thirty percent of the prison population
come out of foster care. We have one of
the highest teen pregnancy and suicide
rates. If we want to solve all these
really big buckets in society, we need to
look upstream at what is happening to
these kids when they are little. There
are ways to be involved.”
That’s where the South Texas
Alliance for Orphans comes in. The
non-profit organization bridges the
gap between the under-accessed
church community, the overburdened
local foster care system and community
resources so children in foster care
receive the help they desperately need.
“Let’s fulfill the biblical call to care
for the orphan,” Smith said. What more
appropriate time to highlight this need
than November – National Orphan
Awareness Month.
“All Christian churches are called to
engage in this space on some level. The
Church wanted to get involved – they
just had no idea how,” Smith said. “We
come in to break down the confusing
system into a way to fulfill the call.
There are dozens and dozens of ways
for people to get involved, from
cooking a meal, to babysitting, to
writing a check, to opening your
home.”
Smith continued, “When we can’t
find mom and dad or restore a family,
the Church needs to be the plan C,” she
added. “These children cannot fall
through the cracks. The state of Texas
cannot be their parent.”
South Texas Alliance for Orphans’
strategy to connect churches to the
foster care crisis grew out of Smith’s
own experience. She and her husband,
Kyle, were busy with their fledgling
careers and young biological family
when she felt God’s unmistakable nudge.
“ The South Texas Alliance for Orphans is making a
real difference in our community in an area that
is close to my heart. I am a grandmother raising a
child who very well could have been placed in the
foster care system. Other children are not so fortunate.
The complex system of fostering is made
much easier by Jennifer and her team. This
results in children who are safe, happy and well
cared for by the people engaged in serving these
kids. This ministry is truly
making a difference in
solving the foster care crisis
in our community.”
Dr. Dorinda Rolle, CEO Rolle and Associates
4 www.saBeacon.com November 2018
/www.saBeacon.com