ASHLAND — On Nov. 7, Fostering Family Ministries (FFM) will host the north central Ohio Stand Sunday service with churches across the country that are advocating for Christians to act on the foster care crisis.
The guest speaker, Jill Crumbacher, will share about her stand that grew to impact the lives of thousands of vulnerable children. Park Street Brethren, 619 Park St, in Ashland, Ohio will host the community service at 5 p.m. All community members are invited to attend the engaging event and learn how they can take action.
Over 400,000 vulnerable children are in the foster care system in America. Every person who attends this event can impact at least one of those 400,000 children and will be given the opportunity to do so.
“We need to stand and participate as a community. In the past 12 months, in your community it is likely that some have bounced between four different homes as we have stayed safe in our own homes,” said Director of FFM Sherry Bouquet. “When we stand together, raise awareness, raise foster homes and raise volunteers, we can give children stability, hope, and a future.”
Jill Crumbacher, the guest speaker for FFM’s Stand Sunday, is an adoptive mom, foster mom and VP of marketing and development for the Dave Thomas Foundation, which supports the adoption of children groups that wait the longest to find forever homes. Sibling groups, older kids and special needs children all face greater challenges in their wait for a forever home.
“We are experiencing the same crisis that Jill [Crumbacher] faced,” explained Bouquet. “There are currently nearly 3,000 children who are still in need of a forever home in the state of Ohio alone and 16,000 children in foster care.”
Crumbacher will share about her journey of finding solutions implementing them to make an impact in the crisis around her.
The early November service launches the year-end giving campaign for FFM that continues through the end of December. Considering all the outreach events FMM holds, Bouquet expressed that the awareness, recruitment and giving generated from this event, “makes the biggest impact of the whole year. It enables us to continue to serve churches, communities and most importantly vulnerable children and families.”
A VIP reception with Jill Crumbacher for donors, church volunteers and ministry partners will precede the service from 4 to 5 p.m. The purpose of the reception is to appreciate key ministry partners for the work they have done to meet the needs of foster children and their families in Ashland, Knox, and Richland County.
The service will be live-streamed on Facebook for attendees who are not in the area or for those who prefer to view the event remotely. FFM highly encourages churches and families to host watch parties for those cannot attend in person.
Fostering Family Ministries has served Ashland County and neighboring counties during the past five years. Their model of engagement and service contributed to the increase of foster families in Ashland County by seven-fold. They continue to grow in their reach and effort to diminish the foster care crisis and meet the needs of vulnerable children. Their newest initiative is integrating trauma-informed practices in the Juvenile and Probate court in Ashland County.
The end of the year giving campaign will expand the work within the local courts.
Located in north central Ohio, Fostering Family Ministry exists to motivate, organize, and equip church partners to serve the needs of foster children in their community. Founded in Ashland County in 2016, FFM has grown to include Richland & Knox Counties as well as over 30 partner churches and numerous community partners.
FFM seeks to continue to cultivate foster care ministry within churches until there are more than enough loving families and care teams for vulnerable children in foster care. For more information about FFM, visit www.fosteringfamilyministries.org.
