DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE CURRENTLY 305 CHILDREN IN NEED OF FOSTER CARE IN VANDERBURGH COUNTY ALONE AND THERE ARE ONLY 89 LICENSED HOMES? THIS LEAVES 216 CHILDREN WHO HAVE TO BE PLACED OUTSIDE OF THE AREA OR IN INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS.
WAYS A PARISH CAN BECOME FOSTER FRIENDLY…
ENCOURAGE FAMILIES TO PRAY ABOUT BECOMING FOSTER FAMILIES
RAISE AWARENESS
PROVIDED WRAP AROUND SERVICES OR SUPPORT FOR FOSTER FAMILIES
Why Become a Foster Friendly Faith Community?
Justice, mercy and grace are themes throughout scripture and most faith traditions.
People of faith already care deeply about these issues. Statistics show practicing Christians are three times more likely to foster and twice as likely to adopt compared to the general population.
Foster care is a non-partisan, unifying issue.
Foster care is an upstream issue. It is at the root of a number of current-day social wounds, including homelessness, sex trafficking, suicide and more.
Are you ready to learn how your faith community can take the next steps to become Foster Friendly?
Grace Marriage is a parish based married couples program where couples meet quarterly to take some time out of their busy lives to focus just on themselves. For more information, contact egirten@evdio.org
Red Bird Ministries is a Catholic, pro-life/pro-family grief support ministry that focuses on bereaved families who have experienced child loss of any age and circumstance, including pregnancy loss through miscarriage and stillbirth, and after birth as an infant, child, adolescent, or adult. While we operate as Catholics our ministry serves anyone who has experienced the loss of a child.
We are starting a Red Bird Ministries program in the diocese. If you are interested in participating, please contact me.
Surviving Divorce is a 12-Session workshop for those who have experienced divorce. If you are interested in participating in this workshop or as a ministry leader, please contact me at egirten@evdio.org.
World Meeting of Families
June 22-26
Event Ideas
Mass (on the Grass): Celebrate Mass at a special time during the week (either indoor or out) and invite families to come together. Offer a special blessing. Plan a meal afterward.
Family Rosary: Same as #1
Recognize the uniqueness of each family in the parish:
Young married couples just beginning their families
Families who have been a part of the parish for years
Generations of families in the parish
Families who have adopted for fostered
Families with disabilities
Families with members, young and old, who have passed
Recognize the family as the domestic church
Invite a speaker on the topic of marriage and family
Provide a special evening of prayer, Reconciliation, and food
Recognize the realities of keeping a family Catholic in today’s society
Post family pictures (of present and past parish families) in the vestibule
