Called to Care

At BigHouse, we believe foster parenting is a calling. It's not something that comes naturally to anyone - to care for children that have no connection to you and have nothing to offer in return. We believe that God has called His people to care for the weak and defenseless among us, which in America include children who have been removed from their natural homes due to neglect or abuse from their birth families.

He calls some to care by becoming foster parents and bring a child or children into their home temporarily while others work with biological parent(s) to create or restore a stable and secure environment in order for them to return. He calls some to care through their profession as social workers, lawyers, police officers, counselors, pediatricians, nurses, therapists, and teachers. In some of these cases, choosing to make children in foster care your professional focus means that you may work harder and be paid less than you would for serving other clients. He calls some to care by advocating for these children in various levels of government, to make changes in laws or provide adequate funding to offices that make critical decisions for the youth in foster care. He calls some to care by supporting organizations like ours that work directly with the children.

He's calling us all to care for children in foster care. This month is foster care awareness month. On Monday we held a drop-in prayer vigil as part of the Cry of the Orphan's 2013 National Foster Care Prayer Vigil. They have a free prayer guide that you can download. We want to encourage you to pray not only for the children that we minister to, but to also open your heart and mind to listen to what God is calling you to do. Then get busy! We love the quote that says, "God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies those He calls." Don't worry about how all the details will work out, just take the first step.

Mobile Clothes Closet: Canton, GA

Mobile Clothes Closet

What It Is:

A partnership between BigHouse and a local church or organization serving foster families to provide a one-day shopping event for foster families in their area.

For our trip to Canton, we worked with First Baptist Church Canton's new foster care ministry, PURE, to arrange the location of the event. Through PURE we got in touch with the Cherokee Co. Foster and Adoptive Parent Association and Division of Family and Children Services in order to get the word out to foster families in the area. The families registered online via BigHouse.

What Our Partners Did:

We were able to set up the clothes shopping area in their church library, and use the hallway and a few Sunday School rooms for other items.They already had clothing racks for us to use. They bought new socks, underwear, and pajamas for all the kids who were registered. They had a team of six adults who helped with the event from set-up to break-down. The church also provided food and drinks for the volunteers. We spent the night with a host family nearby so we didn't have to spend money on hotel rooms.

What BigHouse Did:

In Opelika we collected new and gently used children's and teen's clothing items, sorted them by size, packed them in bins, and loaded all of it into a truck, loaned to us by H & W Motor Co. We recruited a team of four volunteers, along with our two staff members and their families (total of 8 adults and 1 very helpful preschooler). We coordinated the registration for the families to get their kids' names, ages, and clothing sizes. We had 24 families register, and a total of 52 kids shopped.

                                                                                     

Set Up:

10 six foot, bi-level clothing racks on wheels. 10 long tables, one round table - all provided by the church. (We are having our own racks built so we can go to places that don't have racks.) It took about 4 hours to set up, including sorting and hanging donations we received once we got to Canton (everything we brought from Opelika was already on hangers and sorted by size).

Shopping:

The families selected a 2-hour block of time to shop (9-11am, 11am-1pm, 1-3pm). Some families brought the kids with them; some made arrangements for childcare. On average, the families took about 30 minutes to shop. Each child was allotted 12 items (5 outfits plus 2 pairs of shoes) from the clothes closet, plus a new duffle bag with extra goodies: new socks/underwear/pajamas, book/stuffed animal/small toy.

Relationship Building:

One goal of the Mobile Clothes Closet is to provide an opportunity for the local organization to meet the foster families in person. We believe that once you put a face with foster care, people are much more inclined to get involved. We got to talk to the families about their experience with foster parenting. We talked with the kids over cookies and juice and found out what things they really wanted (for one little guy - a superhero toy; for a three-year old girl - a pink jacket; for a teen boy - new jeans and Polo brand shirts. Want to know how awesome our God of the fatherless is? We had those exact items for them to choose from.)

Packing It Up:

We put all the leftover items back in our bins, loaded up the truck, put the church back in order, and pulled out of the parking lot at 3:30 (half an hour after the event ended). Wow! The whole process was so smooth, we'd love to go back to First Baptist Church Canton again. We loved working with PURE and Cherokee Co. Foster and Adoptive Parent Association.

We Want to Come to You!

Email us at bighouse@ourbighouse.org about hosting the Mobile Clothes Closet for foster families in your area. See more pictures from our trip on our BigHouse Foundation facebook page.

BigHouse is on the move!

This weekend, we're taking our Mobile Clothes Closet program on its maiden voyage to Canton, GA to serve foster families in the North GA area. We'll be loading up a truck full of new and gently used kids' and teens' clothing from our Clothes Closet and presenting a one-day shopping event with help from First Baptist Canton and the Cherokee Co. Foster and Adoptive Parent Association. We'd like to thank H & W Motor Co. for loaning us a box truck for the trip! Look for pics from the trip to be posted to our facebook page this weekend.

Our next big news is that we're expanding to Birmingham, AL! We are planning to do four events for foster families in that area in 2013, the first of which is our 2nd Annual Glitz, Glam, and Gowns event to be held at The Church at Brook Hills on March 2nd. Last year, we had girls who drove from 3 hours away to attend the event, so we hope that having it more centrally located in the state will help make it accessible to more teens in foster care. Equally as important, we hope to engage the Birmingham community in this fun and much-needed event to provide new and gently used formal and semi-formal dresses, shoes, and accessories to high school girls in foster care who may not otherwise be able to attend their prom. Check out our website for more info on Glitz, Glam, and Gowns 2013 including drop-off locations where you can take donations through the end of February. 

Keep up with the development of BigHouse Foundation - Birmingham through our new facebook page, and show your support for bringing BigHouse events and programs to the mid-state area. This an exciting venture that wouldn't be possible without the continued blessing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We just celebrated our 4th birthday as an 501(c)3 non-profit. Did you know that only one-third of non-profits survive their first 5 years? We're so grateful to be GROWING rather than throwing in the towel. Thanks so much for your support!

Speaking of support, have you checked out our Neighborhood? This is the visual representation of the monthly donors who have come alongside us to provide valuable programs like the Clothes Closet, Kids' Night Out, Birthday Club, Statewide Swimsuit and Towel Drive and events such as Glitz, Glam, and Gowns, Back-to-School Bash, Family Beach Retreat, and Breakfast with Santa. You don't have to live in Opelika to be part of the BigHouse Neighborhood - we have monthly supporters across the nation! The easiest way to donate is online through Razoo.com.