The Greatest of These is Love, Part 2
Written by Heather Lojeski
In the short three months since our last article; Faith, Hope, & Love has grown immensely. Our goal has been to make sure that no child is handed a trash bag for their personal belongings when they are displaced from their home due to abuse, neglect, or tragic event. We are well on our way to making this goal a reality.
We have been working with Racine County Human Services to provide duffel bags to every child entering foster care. Recently, it was brought to our attention, there is no plan in place to provide duffel bags to children in short term, crisis treatment. Read More...Together, with Racine County Human Services, we made a plan to provide two bags to every crisis treatment foster home that may receive children during: evening hours, weekends, and holidays. This is just one of the ways we are making sure that no child has to move their personal belongings with a trash bag, and we are able to provide personal care and comfort items to children who may have nothing.
Another way we are impacting the needs of hurting children in Racine County; is through Wheaton Franciscan's Fresh Start; an alternative-classroom program that provides support to at-risk students as part of a collaboration with the Racine Unified School District. To date, we have delivered 20 bags to Fresh Start and already are hearing stories of success.
The next large step that we have taken, is to provide law enforcement officers of the Racine County Sheriff Department with duffel bags. Each squad car is now equipped with a minimum of one duffel bag and soon each car will have two bags. According to Racine County Investigator Tracy Hintz, “When children need to be removed from a home for situations such as abuse, local authorities work with them to meet their needs.” Until we delivered those bags though, they had nothing to physically hand the child. “This makes a difference. This is going to be something a child is going to remember,” Hintz said.
By the end of August, we will have duffel bags in each squad car in Racine County, including: Sturtevant Police, Mount Pleasant Police, Racine Police, and Caledonia Police departments. We will continue to work hard to fulfill our goal of making sure each child receives a duffel bag in crisis situations.
About:
Faith, Hope, Love is a ministry of Living Light Christian Church and co-directed by husband and wife team, Mark and Heather Lojeski. Mark and Heather reside in Racine and have 10 children ages 7-23.
Faith, Hope, & Love - a ministry of Living Light Christian Church
740 College Ave
Racine, WI 53403
262-902-0556
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