Emmanuel Church Ministry Supports Foster & Adoptive Families Through Donations
Writer / Michelle Kaufman
After noticing a lack of resources for foster and adoptive parents, Lauren Roller and five other people decided to form a ministry, Love One, to help and support them.
“We just knew that there was a big need in our community for foster families to be able to be supported. One of the big things that we do is our donation closet,” Roller says.
The closet allows foster and adoptive parents to come and get items like cribs, diapers and car seats for free. It is stocked by donations and items purchased through an Amazon wish list.
“A lot of times as foster families, we get a phone call at 11 in the morning saying, ‘hey, we have a baby who was just born at the hospital and needs to be picked up at 4,’” Roller says. “We need to have a crib and all the necessities for a baby, and we generally have to pay for those things out of our own pocket.”
The ministry officially launched Jan. 1 and has already helped several families. Emmanuel Church in Greenwood is hosting a pack away hunger event March 18, and the church is asking each family that comes to also bring a package of diapers to help stock the closest.
Another aspect of the Love One ministry is care communities, which are groups of 6-8 individuals who will come alongside one foster family to support them in their journey of fostering. The care community members can help through bringing meals, doing yard work or providing transportation. Love One is partnering with the Department of Child Services to provide free background checks, so members of the care communities can also provide childcare to the families.
“Since [foster kids] are technically wards of the state, any caregiver, any babysitter must have a background check with DCS, so it makes it very hard for foster families to be able to have date nights and breaks,” Roller says. “People who are willing, we would get them connected with DCS to get those background checks done.”
Roller says Love One follows the motto of author Jason Johnson, who said that, “we’re not all called to do the same thing, but we are all capable of doing something.”
“Obviously, not everyone is called to bring children into their home through foster care or adoption, but everyone can do something to support one of those families, and that’s what care communities will be all about — bringing meals or helping with childcare, things like that,” Roller says.
The closet accepts new and gently used donations except for car seats, which must be new. The closet does not take clothing donations. To arrange a pickup, email Love1orphanministry@gmail.com.
