Each May since 1988, National Foster Care Month has raised awareness of the needs of children and teens in foster care across Arkansas.
When children cannot stay with their families due to crisis, neglect or abuse, they enter the foster care system needing safe homes to take them in and care for them. With approximately 4,400 children and youth currently in the foster care system in Arkansas and only 1,500 homes to care for them, there is an urgent need for foster and adoptive parents to provide a refuge or a home of permanence.
The CALL in Arkansas mobilizes the Church and recruits, trains and supports church members to become foster and adoptive parents. In 2019, more than 969 CALL foster homes served 3,685 children and youth.
Are you feeling stressed because of the Covid-19 pandemic? Scared about the future? Anxious about your family? Missing your friends? Not sure who is in charge? Out of your normal routine? Stuck where you don’t want to be? Behaving your worst? Can’t think past today? Unfortunately, this is the life of a child in foster care.
Children and teens in foster care deserve to have a home where they feel safe and secure. The CALL is working through the crisis to provide stability and offer support. At a time when others have closed their doors to remain safe, foster families are opening their homes to children at their most vulnerable. This month, The CALL is launching a campaign to highlight foster heroes in our local communities.
For more information or to feature a local foster family in your community, contact your local County Coordinator or the state office for The CALL. The state contact is:
Jill Bobo, Development Director
501-580-1214
Heroism doesn’t demand extraordinary circumstances. Instead, it can take place in our everyday lives. For more information about becoming a hero to a child in foster care, contact The CALL at 501-907-1048.
To learn more about The CALL, visit TheCALLinArkansas.org or Facebook.com/TheCALLinAR.
