Nonprofits that in normal years require regular face-to-face interaction and community engagement faced particularly tough adjustments in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CALL, a Union County Christian nonprofit focused on the foster care system, was forced to think creatively to continue its mission in 2020.
The CALL’s Union County coordinator Karen Hicks said she has observed the effects COVID-19 has caused on the court system as well as the foster care system.
“The biggest difference has been the flow of the court system and the flow of DHS (Department of Human Services) procedure… It’s been a struggle for biological families; we’ve seen that kids tend to stay in foster care longer this year and I’m not entirely sure why. It’s [also] been a struggle for our families this year; in the last few weeks I’ve seen it hit families really hard… And that’s 100% because of COVID-19, it’s not how our county generally operates,” Hicks said.
Part of the organization’s mission is to help recruit, train and support local foster families, a goal that Hicks said was hampered by the pandemic.
“Our biggest biggest obstacle now is [that] recruitment has almost gone to nothing; it’s the first time since 2015 we didn’t have new families train this year. That means we wont be meeting needs at the first of the year. We have some training coming up but early in the year it will be tough,” Hicks said.
The organization has worked throughout the year to keep its support network for and among its supported foster families thriving.
“Going virtual has been hard and some struggled without in-person meetings and the fun stuff we generally plan. We’ve moved to more one-on-one mentoring meetings and making sure families have each other in safe way,” Hicks said.
Recently, The CALL adapted an annual retreat for the pandemic. Instead of a usual large retreat to Branson for adoptive and foster mothers to network and train, the nonprofit instead rented an AirBnB in Hot Springs for a small group to meet and take on virtual training.
“We tried to continue the tradition but it was different, which I think you could say about almost everything,” Hicks said.
The year certainly was not all negative for The CALL in Union County, however.
Their annual Christmas toy drive was sponsored by NOALMARK Broadcasting this year and included a monetary donation match of up to $10,000 by Delek and a visit from the A-State Boys Motorcycle Club.
The drive surpassed all expectations, Hicks said.
“Last year we were able to sponsor about 19 children with the toy drive. When I closed the office this Christmas Eve, we had served 76 children. I can’t even wrap my mind around 76 children. We filled their entire wish list or portions of it and there were some pretty high-dollar items. About 60 of the 76 children had individual sponsors,” Hicks said.
The $10,000 monetary goal was reached on the first day of the drive.
In 2020, CALL-supported families adopted nine children out of foster care in Union County and fostered 51 children.
Looking forward to 2021, Hicks has the same goal set that she sets at the beginning of each year: increasing the number of foster families.
“Every year I always set the goal to have 20 foster families in Union County. I haven’t met it yet but I will not change it. God is good and will do more than you expect. But, the goal is to have more than enough to meet the need. Across the world foster care and orphan care organizations are saying we want to have enough foster families to serve the community. Here in Union County we have around 55 foster children with fewer than 12 families to serve them. To have more than enough we need about 30 foster families and need them willing to accept older kids and sibling groups… I feel we can reach it - we have over 280 churches in the county, so we only need 50 churches to have 1 family willing to do it, or even just 30 of them. It will not be the CALL or the state meeting the need, it has to be the local Christian community stepping up,” Hicks said.
The CALL holds informational meetings on the first Tuesday of each month, and Hicks encouraged not just prospective foster families but anyone interested in the process to join.
“It’s a no obligation meeting. We go through what it takes to open your home and what happens after you open your home… I cant stress enough that this is step one. Even if you know it isn’t for you but have a voice in a local church, you should attend because you could think of person who could meet the need and tell them about it. Even if you know you can’t but are just curious, attend and see what it’s all about,” Hicks said.
The next virtual meeting will be on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. Anyone interested in attending can reach out to Hicks on Facebook at The CALL of Union County or by email at [email protected].