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Truett Memorial Church opens foster home
Pastor Carroll explained that the vision of the church began over a year ago when the church began to question what they could do to put their faith into action by ministering to children in the community. Carroll said he approached Mauney and the Department of Social Services and began asking where the need was the greatest and how could the church be of assistance to the community. Mauney said the answer was easy, as the department has seen a tremendous increase in the number of foster children over the past several years. She said that in the past the DSS normally would have only a few children at a time in foster care and that finding a place to house those children locally was not difficult. However, due to the increase in drug use, domestic violence and sexual abuse, Mauney said Clay County currently has 19 foster children. Mauney continue to explain that Carroll's offer of help was welcomed with great enthusiasm, as the county was in great need of local foster homes and foster parents. With the ever increasing number of children being placed in state custody, Mauney said that the children from Clay County were having to be placed into licensed foster homes in other counties because the local homes were all full. Truett's willingness to fill that need, Mauney said, will mean that local children will be able to stay close to home, remain in a familiar school setting and have fewer transitions while the DSS works with their parents to get them the help they need. Mauney explained that she and her social workers have a goal of reuniting every family and that they are strongbelievers in family preservation. Having children in foster care close to home means that family members will be able to have cvisitation with out lengthy travel and be able to work toward a healthy, happy reunification. Mauney added that when children are taken out of the county due to lack of foster housing they are uprooted from everything familiar at a time when they desperately need the help of their caring teachers and community . "We have a wonderful community. We nded to keep our kids in our county," Mauney stressed. "It's a very traumatic experience for a young child to be placed outside their home. In some case we have to look across the state to find a place for these children. They all of a sudden loose family, friends…everything all at once…Being able to keep them with a special teacherand their school friends is very important," she added. "We can't make sure our kids get all the support they need if theare in another county." In addition, Mauney said that being moved to another town often means children are unable to havevisits from other family members like grandparents, which is very important to children during such a difficult time. What has Mauney so excited is that the home recently purchased and under renovation by Truett Memorial is only the beginning of a much larger plan. Mauney, Carroll and Truett Baptist Association Director Mitchell Shields announced this week that what will start as a place to house and care for up to four area children will hopefully turn into a regionally located home for children. Plans are now underway to construct a foster home in Peachtree on 14 acres owned by Truett Baptist Association. The property is located behind the Assoication's current offices. Shields said that the Association will hold a meeting in April at which time the 61 members from Baptist Churches in Clay, Cherokee and Graham Counties will vote on construction of the home for children. Upon approval by the Association, Shields said the TBA would begin construction on a home which would house foster children from all three counties. Shields and Carroll said that the endeavor is very exciting as it has become a faith-based initiative involving churches from every denomination from three counties. The local church leaders said that they have received positive responses from churches from all the communities who have pledged their support. Mauney said that this combined effort to meet the needs of children in the three county area is wonderful. "Clay, Cherokee and Graham DSS all work closely together because we are all small counties. We rely on one another and work closely together for placement of our foster children. We all have a great need for foster care," Mauney stated. "One of the most exciting things to me," Mauney continued, "is that three counties are coming together with a faithbased group. And by coming together we are able to accomplish something that individually we could not have done." Shields announced that, upon approval by the TBA at it's quarterly meeting in April, the home will be named The Truett Baptist Association Children's Home. Shields said TBA will be working closely with the North Carolina Baptist Association who runs similar children's homes across the state. Shields said that an agreement will be worked out for the Truett Children's Home to be managed and operated by the NC Baptist Children's Home. "They have 122 years of experience in this area. And they have agreed to manage the facility for us," Shields said. "It's a win-win situation." Shields continued to explain that TBA will own the home but it will be operated by the NC Baptist Association. The TBA Children's Home will be built in a similar fashion to other Baptist Children's Homes throughout the state, Shields said. It will look like a home, not an institution, he added. The goal is to maintain a home-like atmosphere for the foster children. Initially the home would house approximately six children, with the capacity to eventually house up to 12. "We want to keep it as much like a family setting, so we do not want it to get too big," he added. Following approval by the TBA in April, Shields said fund raising will begin to raise money for construction of he home. Shields said that the project will be a "pay as you go" endeavor and funding will primarily come from local sources in the three county area to be served by the home. "We will begin a major fund raising campaign in the next few months," Shields commented. And although the TBA Children's Home is pending approval and in the planning stages, the four-bedroom home purchased by Truett Church will be open and housing local children by this June, Pastor Carroll said. As far as renovations to the house, Carroll said the house recently purchased needs a lot of work and the church is paying to have it brought up to code for use as a foster home. "We started with the yard and have cleaned it up. We have to replace the windows to allow for exit in case of a fire. We are re-doing the kitchen cabinets and there is some electrical work that needs to be done," Carroll explained. The purchase of the home was paid for by the local church congregation, Carroll said, and the renovations will be paid for by the church and through donations of materials and labor. Carroll added that the church took on this project because of their desire to minister to the children in their community. Once the house is finished, Carroll said the home will be operated by the NC Baptist Children's Home.
"A few people in the community were surprised that the church would be willing to purchase this house and do this," Carroll commented. "But our church has seen the need and wants to help our children."
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