Three Tree Coffee Roasters will host The Family Advocacy Ministry and CarePortal Launch for Bulloch County on Tuesday, September 26, 2023 from 9:00AM to 10:30AM. Caroline Johnson, a FAM (Family Advocacy Ministry) Specialist with Promise 686, explains Promise 686’s mission and the CarePortal model.
The 14-year-old nonprofit’s name stems from Psalm 68:6, which is a Bible verse that describes the promise God makes to set the lonely in families. Johnson, who has a background in case management and supervision, knows first-hand the realities of family and children’s needs versus the funding to provide those essential items.
A twin bed can make the difference of a child being able to remain with his/her family as opposed to being placed into foster care for lack of a proper place to sleep. These are hurdles that families in need must overcome and are able to do so with support from their community.
“One of the things that we do is we mobilize the church to step up and to serve vulnerable children and families,” Johnson says.
Promise 686, which has affiliates in 34 states, launched the Family Advocacy Ministry program in response to a need for not only adoption grants within their church community, but also for support for families beyond the adoption process. In addition to Bulloch County, their hope is for other churches to incorporate this model across the nation.
“One of the activities we offer churches is CarePortal," Johnson shares. "We are an implementing partner for CarePortal. When agency workers from DFCS are visiting families who may be at risk of their children entering into the foster care system or potentially losing custody of their children, if they see a need that can be answered to prevent that, they can enter it into this platform called CarePortal, then CarePortal shoots it out to participating churches in a specific radius, and the church has the opportunity to meet that need and meet that family. The impact has just been astronomical.”
In addition to DFCS in Bulloch County, Choices of the Heart and Foundations Resource Center both have access to CarePortal to create requests for families in need. Since its launch in March in Chatham County, CarePortal has served over 55 children with an economic impact of over $34,000.
“And that’s not churches just giving that amount of money,” Johnson says. “That also calculates the money that the state has not had to spend.”
CarePortal has helped young men and women gain the proper attire for jobs, allowed pregnant women to have a support system, and provided digital means of communication for siblings who have been separated in the foster system. CarePortal has done these things and so much more.
“It’s just incredible, the blessing it’s been, the church being able to have awareness and seeing what’s truly going on in their community and getting to build relationships with people and have what God calls us to do," Johnson shared. "He calls us to love and to serve our neighbor, and that is exactly what this helps us to do."
Southbridge Community Church, Bible Baptist Church, New Hope Hubert United Methodist Church, Crossroads Community Church, Friendship Baptist Church, and Bethel Missionary Church are a few of the local churches that will be responding to the needs input by DFCS, Choices of the Heart, and Foundations Resource Center. Johnson is optimistic that many children will avoid foster care as a result of the generous collective outpouring CarePortal organizes.
If local businesses or churches would like to become a part of the CarePortal family, Johnson welcomes inquiries.
“They can absolutely reach out to me; I would be more than happy to talk to anyone. The door is never closed. The boat may be leaving the dock, but we have a very long dock, so we’re hopeful that they will jump on.”
The ability to be a part of CarePortal includes everyone with a desire to help.
“Businesses, pastors, churches -- there’s really not anyone that can’t participate. I’m really excited to see what it does for our community,” Johnson muses.
Three Tree Coffee Coffee Roasters is located at 441 South Main Street. For more information, please contact Caroline Johnson at [email protected].
