SALEM, Va.—Mention the word orphan and typically what comes to mind are children in impoverished nations around the globe. Virginia Baptists’ HopeTree Family Services and other faith-based organizations in Virginia are seeking to change that image and get the word to the Christian community of the growing number of children, especially those over the age of 10, who have no home or family of their own. These children are waiting for permanent families and many have waited for years.
HopeTree Family Services’ foster parents are specially trained to create a therapeutic, nurturing environment for children waiting for permanent homes.
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According to the Virginia Department of Social Services, there are nearly 5,500 children in the foster care system in the state. These are children under the age of 18 who have been removed from their birth parents temporarily or, in some cases, permanently. Some have been removed because their homes are no longer safe environments. Others need a temporary home until their birth parents can take them back. There are also children waiting to be permanently adopted because there is no hope for reunification with their birth families.
Additionally there are about 800 children in Virginia who have been granted TPR (termination of parental rights). These children have no legal connection to their parents anymore and need a family willing to provide a safe and loving home and adopt them.
Change Who Waits, a partnership of churches, the Virginia Department of Social Services and foster care agencies like HopeTree, wants to recruit so many families that are willing to foster and adopt children that no one is waiting.
Change Who Waits rallies will be held at Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., on Saturday, May 4, and Real Life Christian Church in Chesapeake, Va., on Saturday, May 12. Both will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.
“Permanency for children is so important,” says Shannon Updike, foster care coordinator for HopeTree Family Services. “We have a lot of children growing up without knowing who’s going to be their mom or dad.” And the rallies are specifically designed to bring attention to pre-teen and teenage children who are waiting, she adds.
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Chris Barras, lead pastor of Area 10 Faith Community in Richmond, recognized the tremendous need for foster parents as he and his wife went through training to become a fostering family. With the desire to inspire and inform the Christian community, Barras began dialogue with other churches.
Bon Air Baptist Church in Richmond became one of the Change Who Waits sponsoring congregations following a lunch hosted by Barras with several staff members.
“Chris shared his vision of organizing rallies and we felt strongly that the Christian community needs to come forward and be involved,” says Deborah Upton, Bon Air’s associate pastor for spiritual development. Upton has served on a planning team for the rallies, which will include a panel of foster parents speaking about their experiences and why they felt God leading them to foster.
“Without the Lord this work wouldn’t be possible,” says Updike. “Without his guidance, support and knowing that he’s created us to do good works and prepared us in advance to do those things, it’s an incredibly impossible job.”
She adds that many times when children come to HopeTree, it’s the first time they’ve been exposed to Christ. “We’ve seen children come to the Lord,” through their experiences with the great community of Christian parents working with the agency.
Following the rallies HopeTree, along with other faith-based agencies, will have an information table and persons to speak with families interested in pursuing becoming foster or adoptive parents. It will also offer an orientation class in May.
For more information on HopeTree Family Services’ foster care program, contact Updike at 804.201.9006.
Barbara Francis ([email protected]) is a staff writer for the Religious Herald.