The Baby Came Early!
Take a few moments with me and “imagine if.”
Imagine if you are:
A single mom who needs surgery with three children
Homeless and have nowhere to go but to a shelter, but the shelter doesn’t accept children
Facing jail time, but have no one to care for your children
We have helped hundreds of families in crises in the last few years. Nearly all of our calls come from desperate, single moms.
Dawn Loftis, our Family Case Manager, and our network of Safe Families volunteers wade into these situations providing hope and help. As Dawn describes it, “The only thing typical is that we are talking on the phone with a very desperate mom. We run into all kinds of situations, but there are always children who need care right now!”
Imagine if you are Janie. Janie was raised by her grandparents. Her own parents were heavy drug users and were not a part of her life. Sadly, both of her grandparents recently passed away. Janie has a job as a home health care aid, but she is a single mom raising a 6 year old. Last year she became pregnant. She wasn’t prepared for little Devon to come 6 weeks early. She had no family to help, and nowhere to turn. The hospital staff told her about Safe Families, and Janie called us.
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If we imagine what the love of Jesus looks like, it could certainly look a lot like the response Janie received. Within hours, we had a volunteer family ready to care for this newborn until Janie is ready for him. Janie had to return to work the week after she gave birth, and little Devon has been with a Safe Family for the past two months. Devon is not old enough for daycare, so our Safe Family has stood in the gap to make sure Janie and her children can make it through this crisis.
Our Safe Family has shared phone calls, photos, and arranged visits so that Janie can continue to be a part of Devon’s life. Another one of our couples has been mentoring Janie about parenting and is providing her with encouragement, love, and support.
Our host family made sure that Devon and his sibling had Christmas presents. Dawn contacted a ladies group from a local church, and they showered Janie and her two children with Christmas gifts. Dawn and our entire team have told Janie, “We’re not going anywhere.” These expressions of love have been encouraging to Janie. She is amazed at what formerly perfect strangers are doing to help her family.
When you support Baptist Children’s Home, you help us provide crisis care to dozens of families in desperate situations every year. You help keep families together and give parents the opportunity to get back on their feet.
Will you help us care for more children in need like Devon? Your gifts mean so much.
*Names have been changed for privacy reasons.
