Families first: Eight Rome churches unite to provide training, resources for local families eager to foster a child

by Severo Avila, Features Editor, as seen in Rome News-Tribune, 07/19/10

Four years ago, Mitch Jolly and his wife Jennifer fostered a little boy, Daniel. They loved him so much that they wanted him to be a permanent part of their family. They adopted Daniel in 2008.

One more Floyd County child found a loving home.

Jolly, pastor at Three Rivers Community Church, is now part of a movement to see that additional local families have the opportunity he had - to provide a home for a foster child.

Eight local churches are collaborating in the effort.

With orientation and training events scheduled, organizers are hoping that local families will recognize the community's need for foster families and will undergo training to foster or to volunteer.

The churches coming together for this community wide effort are the Church at Northside, First Presbyterian, Seven Hills Fellowship, Three Rivers Community Church, Fifth Avenue Baptist, West Rome Baptist, Lakeview Baptist and Hollywood Baptist.

Those churches came together and joined with Faithbridge Foster Care, an organization which goes into communities and mobilizes and equips local churches to train families to foster.

"We train families, certify them and place children into loving foster homes," said Bill Hancock, president of Faithbridge. "We work with the Department of Family and Children's Services, the courts and other public safety organizations to make sure that everyone is working together to protect the children."

Hancock said Faithbridge did a community assessment and found that Floyd County has one of the largest numbers of foster children, per capita, in Georgia. And not nearly enough foster families to fill that need.

On July 9, several Rome families attended a training session at Unity Christian School. Another event is planned for July 19 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall at First Presbyterian Church, located at 101 E. Third Ave.

The event will be a volunteer training and orientation session.

Hancock said there are a few easy steps for people interested in being a foster family or simply supporting a foster family.

The first is to come to an orientation session.

The second is to decide whether you'd like to undergo foster training or volunteer training.

"There is a great need for volunteer support," Hancock said. "Even if taking a child into your home is not something you can do, there are other ways in which you can help."

The next step in the process is to attend a weekend Impact training retreat where individuals undergo state foster care certification training. Or, participants can choose to attend volunteer training to be part of a foster family's support system.

Hancock said all trainees go through a strict screening process which includes a federal and state background check.

And participants don't have to be members of any of the participating churches.

"They can register even if they're not affiliated with any of the churches involved," Hancock said. "The churches are just a focal point for the project in the community."

Mitch Jolly attended the impact training through DFCS before fostering and eventually adopting his son Daniel.

He encourages Rome residents to attend an orientation to hear about the resources available to local families who would like to foster.

"You're not doing this by yourselves," he said. "We have the resources to help you with whatever you need."