Growth & Blessings
I had the great joy of beginning my employment with Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries on January 1, 1995. A lot has changed in the last 27 years!
In our winter issue of Lifeprints, you will read an amazing story about a family who recently restored and gave us their family homestead to use however it could best serve the ministry. I could write pages upon pages of all the details of this wonderful gift from this exceptional family! Needless to say, we did not have that property in 1995 and as we look to the years ahead, we know it will be a tremendous blessing to many.
You will also find an article about an exciting new foster care model we started this year called Campus Foster Care and meet our first foster parents serving in this way on our Decatur campus. In 1995, we had just begun to invest energy and time into a small foster care program that today has over 200 foster homes statewide. We are now converting some of our Campus Care homes into Campus Foster Care homes. This campus-based foster care model will allow us to continue to provide excellent care to children from birth to age 18, and especially large sibling groups, who might otherwise be very difficult to place in a home together.
In 1995, we operated campus homes in Troy, Decatur, and Mobile. At the time, we had just a hand full of foster families and a maternity home in Mobile. Today, though we no longer operate in Troy nor have a maternity home, we are serving more children and families than ever before. In addition to our campuses in Decatur and Mobile, we have campus homes in Dothan and in Oxford.
Our 200 licensed foster homes are supported through our regional offices in Birmingham, Decatur, Dothan, Mobile, Montgomery, Opelika, and Oxford. We also have professional counseling centers to serve our children and families, as well as local communities, across the state through sister ministry, Pathways Professional Counseling.
Another thing that has changed for us since 1995 is the addition of three Family Care homes that serve homeless mothers and their dependent children. Two of these homes are in the Birmingham area and one is in Mobile. In our winter Lifeprints, you’ll get to meet one of our former Family Care moms and her son who were wonderfully impacted through your support. I hope you will enjoy learning more about this ministry that is keeping families together and changing generations now and to come.
I’ve seen how the Lord has used your support over just the past 26 years to expand our footprint and enhance the Kingdom impact of your Baptist Children’s Homes. Thank you for taking time to read our winter issue of Lifeprints! At our most recent Board meeting on November 5, our Board approved our strategic plan to guide our ministries for the next decade.
Your support has helped us expand the excellent care we provide to children and families across the state. I cannot wait to share more about these exciting plans with you all and how your continued support will help provide brighter futures for those in our care!