Ambasador Program Launches
in Three Local Churches
Help One Child launched a new church partnership strategy in 2006 and a dozen churches have expressed interest in bringing the Ambassador Program to their church community this year, creating Help One Child "satellite sites."
In May, Help One Child Director of Community Development Beth Fraker facilitated the first three ministry launches at WestGate Church, San Jose; South Valley Christian Church, San Jose; and St. Mary Parish, Gilroy, with more slotted to take off in the coming months.
Beth explains that the impetus to create this program was to conveniently deploy services and programs from within a church congregation and to leverage already existing relational networks found in churches.
"For example, if you decide to foster a child, there will be people from within your own church, people you see on a regular basis, prepared and ready to baby-sit, pray for you and provide other kinds of support," Beth says.
Churches interested in establishing an urban ministry to foster and adoptive children receive a proven program model as well as the resources, materials and training required to do so. While positioned as a "ministry in a box," the Ambassador Program takes a unique shape at each congregation. Here is a look at how ministry teams are tailoring the program to fit the unique needs of their church's foster and adoptive families.


St. Mary Parish,
The St. Mary Parish ministry team believes that by lifting up the families who are already involved, others will be inspired to follow suit. So their approach was to highlight an adoptive parish family in the weekly bulletin and ask other foster parents to address the congregation.
The weekly bulletin reaches approximately 1,500 people and is their church's primary communication vehicle. This activity generated interest from both prospective foster parents and raised volunteers for current foster families.
St. Mary's will work closely with Help One Child to support the county's child specific recruiting efforts in their area.
The Ambassador Program has created more contacts that can bridge the Spanish and English-speaking communities and help fill the need for more Spanish-speaking foster homes in South County.		 WestGate Church
WestGate Church's Children's Ministry Pastor Joel King and his wife Lyn, who have adopted all four of their children from foster care, exemplify the level of commitment that many WestGate families have already demonstrated.
From adoptive parents to potential foster parents to people who professionally work on behalf of children such as a Home Economics teacher, neonatal nurse, and an attorney with the DA's office, people came out of the woodwork to form a diverse team of support at the church.
Another exciting aspect of the ministry is the proximity to the S.T.A.R. group home, where teens in foster care are in need of mentors. Two youg women stepped forward right away to fill those roles. The connection to S.T.A.R. will provide service opportunities in the future for church members.		 South Valley Christian Church
Foster parents Don and Robyn Dequine--with a mission to care for infants in foster care--have been at the forefront of foster care ministry at SVCC for the last four and half years. Longtime Help One Child employee and foster parent, Mary Johnson, has also advocated to raise awareness of the needs of foster children. Thus, the May 17th Ambassador Program launch at SVCC was the culmination of a dream and the formalization of a foster care ministry in partnership with Help One Child.
The Dequines' example has raised up many other foster families and the church has even hosted the county's PRIDE trainings for pre-licensed foster parents. With Help One Child matching the new volunteers to assist families, the ministry is poised to grow and take off like it always has--through word of mouth, which so far has motivated five new families to foster parent with more to follow.