Surrounding Family In Crisis With Caring Compassionate Community

The charge had great people and people who are loving feeling of letting their neighbor. This is family policy motives with NC family Pres. John Weston thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters will come as no surprise that many families across our state are facing hardships of many, is curing individuals who are called to love and serve our neighbors.

We have compassion for these families and want to help with the fact is that we often find ourselves ill-equipped to meet the real needs of those in crisis.

With this in mind, you will be happy to learn that North Carolina is home to a wonderful outreach ministry that surrounds families in crisis with curing compassionate community say families for children works to create a world where children are safe and families are transformed by bringing together families in need with churches and host families who can assist them in times of crisis. Kimberly Kerlin is the director of the wake County chapter of say families and we are pleased to welcome her as our guest today after graduating from UNC Chapel Hill and then living in the inner city of Chicago, Kimberly brought her passion and vision for connecting families in crisis with supportive neighborhood churches back to Raleigh and wake County and she quickly helped to launch say families in and around our capital city area and with that Kimberly walking the family policy matters. It's great to have you with us on the show are not shared high chair no Kimberly.

As we begin our conversation. I like to ask you to share a little bit about your story and how you became involved with, say, family way back Chapel Hill mission conference with bear that the world needs now. I compelling way to meet before the common ball somehow admission to talk about something being another thing Frank and I really wanted to be thanked and actively engaged in particularly hard for Spanish speaking community during difficult circumstances such as violent dates and community about ministry bear and bang after getting married in Chicago next, geographically neighboring neighbors on his were dealing with complex situations like financial stress and early parenthood, violence, and family dysfunction helped me learn a deeper meaning of love your neighbor that was really transformative and loving our neighbors.

They are not being present to them faithfully slightly walking through life together. All of us on a journey including what about quickly fixing problems. So I learned we underlie years, and John, you're probably familiar with Christian community development education wanted their three neighboring says there Chicago bear part of a community of people intentionally intentionally letting their kid actively engage in the neighborhood so while there I started having children and mother had definitely altered my life.

My capacity for ministry. I couldn't quite get out the door and involved with people I could disintegrate before that meeting out of Chicago suburb. But when we left everything families because she families in our new church were involved families.

It seems like yet another beautiful way for God's people to be neighbor and to be actively connected with struggling families, particularly single mom I wanted to help these non-temporarily hospitality ministry and again I was mentioning that I didn't have time to go serve in a tutoring program or something having to leave my house because I had little children going says he jumped on board family back to Raleigh in 2013 took me a few years after meeting acetylene 2016. I finally think about the national office in Chicago at families appear not to connected me with Steve Marshall. Just the kind, let's work across the whole state. Either the pastor and he is a longtime friend and say families national director David Anderson and fax back in 2003 people including Scott getting help gave first launch say families Steve laid the groundwork. He started the North Carolina chapter families.

The national alliance and basically 2015. I joined his efforts as the rally coordinator for sure about. I think it will be over to our listeners.

From what you've already assured, but also which you will be sure and just that the passion that you have two to reach out to those in crisis who need some assistance into really five practical ways to help meet those needs. So what so thickly for the benefit of our listeners is the mission of say families for children children and vulnerable children and create extended family, like support for desperate families. Community volunteers say to keep children safe and families intact. Kimberly, what color family situations to say families to seek to serve well on the situation to serve our upstream streaming prevented 20. First, during a crisis and before abuse or neglect occurred yet foster care steps down when abuse or neglect or been suspected but I the situations are extreme can dare say when a parent is experiencing. Stress like unemployment, violent isolation of the parent lack of a safe social network hospitalization on unsafe living situations or how much that I can be really specific say we had been able to serve's writing bought family but staying at one of our local shelters and she needed to deliver her baby but could it have a safe place for her children while she went to the hospital and the shelter can't keep the kids while she's not with them that we were able to have children while she delivered her baby and then deliver the children back to her when she got back to the shelter situations where abuse and neglect. Not happening but the family does not have the margin does not have the social support to fill-in in times of me. So when when one of us had a baby. We have our mom comes to the Saturnalia sister some incumbent building trust that there's any families that don't have those people if they want to be like extended family that they don't have for them in the situation you're listening to policy matters a resource to listen to our radio show online, and someone resources that will be a voice of persuasion in your community to our website and see family.org talk about the importance of building a connection between families in need, and their local neighborhood churches really want to plug in and find a way to help serve the chart has the greatest people in the community of people and people who are loving God and loving others said the church really needs to be in the space of loving their neighbor everything they might not know that that they can get this connection point say families can be neighboring before the problem that you often neighborhood their families in crisis. Don't let next door said we need a bridge across that gap and said additionally God created the family and the church wants to support families and never baby can because we know that God is honored in this design of family said protecting children loving their parents and helping kids remain with their parents is really gospel work and the work of the church in child abuse prevention. We talk about the five protective factors.

One of those social connections and another concrete support course the church can provide that intervening at critical times we prevent harm to children to get parents the space and support they need to get back on their feet and really this is not about sick taking it for you.

It's about helping children mother. Instilling achieving their goal that they really want to achieve. They are working to make life stable and were just offering this again extended family, like support while the parents are really working hard for the church can contribute to family preservation and stabilization around this. The fact that we are people know it seems like individuals, neighbors and churches who get involved in this can can provide a personal level of care. The maybe in some cases government largely programs or national programs can't do.

How does the work that say families do compared to government programs for other, maybe more formalized programs that we may hear about people and nations at hospitality while beaming and we need other Christian ministries that are programmatic such as offering classes like skill job training is kind of things that are essential for family connection is that home-based hospitality and said that jumping back to what we do actually need foster care because sometimes it happened that if we can step down relationally and partner time then maybe we don't need foster care settings very very flexible. No absolute formula. There's a model that I can explain that there's no formula for every relationship, but for Frank and it is a church serve the family together. They they can adapt to the particular needs of the family are in the strength of that family and work with that inflexible way socially talking about the impact say families from your experience has only individuals that volunteer certainly expect that there are benefits both for the parents and the children of families who are in crisis and who receive services of this ministry, but what about the impact it has on those who were serving great question built on the quality of hospitality radical and difficult, so this is not easy for Sir to invite a stranger on Internet and all their needs better in Baltimore and you you blend together does our and connect with volunteers and brokenness of our new friends and this is a formula for a lot of trusting aboard and growling. Stretching out fake firsthand you to be hosted a couple times and be rep in Chicago and it also it helps me grow in being more flexible and adapting and changing with the personality and background story of the children during my home instead of our family having to do things our way. We were able to flex with whether a different kind of food they were eating or different ways of doing like they do not think so hurried and said we were certainly changed in that process.

Hospitality hospitality presents a different band hospitality and having friends over to eat dinner may be said that this type of inviting a stranger and an making of my family. One other one other way that we grab be served at the church family to the families model involves not only a host family, but also some other volunteer roles family catechin family friend said the church of learning to do this together, and there is transformation and growth involved not as well such a great picture, the love of Christ to know what he really calls us to invest in each other's lives and to go beyond our comfort zone to really have meaningful relationship and serve others, even if it does make us uncomfortable.

Sometimes you take us to places that we don't necessarily expect. Ultimately I know that many of our listeners are interested to learn.

Were they can go to find out more about say families for children and also to get connected and to determine if there's a local chapter remote their own area. How can they do that yes I studied-families.org and currently there is a Raleigh Durham and Charlotte webpage which you can access at that name national website.

Also the Greek city of Charlotte Facebook pages. If you like faith that you can access information there. If you're if you live in a different area in Raleigh, Charlotte, and you would like to consider catalyzing say families in that area.

I urge you to reach out to the national office at info@sayfamilies.net this is a grassroots commitment and a great people taking the time and running. With that said, if you're hearing that you're feeling glad to make this happen in your area. Just reach out to them and they will coach you through how to start this in your city website is www.safe-families.org again safe-families.org button without Kimberly curl and I want to thank you so much for being with us on family policy matters today are in for the great work that you're doing it say families in wake County again just want to encourage our listeners to look into this and to get involved with say families in their community.

Listening to and listen to our online resources and about issues important to families and to our website and see family.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook