{"id":47778,"date":"2025-02-25T12:41:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T17:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/?p=47778"},"modified":"2025-02-18T11:26:28","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T16:26:28","slug":"presbyterian-home-for-children-expands-its-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/resources\/news\/presbyterian-home-for-children-expands-its-reach\/","title":{"rendered":"\uc5b4\ub9b0\uc774\ub97c \uc704\ud55c \uc7a5\ub85c\uad50\uc758 \uc9d1, \uadf8 \ubc94\uc704\ub97c \ub113\ud788\ub2e4"},"content":{"rendered":"

\uadf8\ub9ac\uace0 \uc7a5\ub85c\uad50 \uc5b4\ub9b0\uc774 \uc9d1<\/a>\u2019s partnership with the Synod of Living Waters<\/span><\/a> is helping the \ud648<\/span><\/a> expand its reach, especially to moms and kids needing a fresh start together.<\/p>\n

Long part of the fabric of Alabama, the Talladega organization is now building relationships with presbyteries and congregations in Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky.<\/p>\n

Since the covenant<\/span><\/a> with the Synod was approved last year, Doug Marshall, President; and Cindy Fisher, Director of Communication; have been on the road even more than usual. They\u2019re speaking at churches, presbytery meetings, Presbyterian Women retreats and more.<\/p>\n

Many Presbyterians in neighboring states weren\u2019t familiar with the Home\u2019s work, Marshall said. Nevertheless, the Home\u2019s leaders have been just as warmly received as they are in Alabama. Fisher, herself a domestic violence survivor, has also been able to share her story.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were so welcomed,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cThese presbyteries and churches are very mission focused like our Alabama presbyteries. We\u2019ve been building relationships and planting a lot of seeds.\u201d
\n<\/b><\/p>\n


\nA safe place to land<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The partnership with the Synod of Living Waters is helping the Home\u2019s core program, Secure Dwellings, reach and support even more women and children in need of transitional housing. The program provides safe, affordable housing on its historic campus to homeless children and their female caregivers for up to two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe women are empowered to achieve self-sufficiency. Kids are able to grow, learn, play, rest and just be kids. Background checks are completed to help keep everyone safe,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n

The recent renovation of two cottages doubled the program\u2019s capacity. The expansion of its reach also allows the Home to serve moms in nearby Mississippi and Tennessee as well; previously, it served moms only within the state of Alabama.<\/p>\n

Wherever they come from, the women bring a variety of needs and circumstances along with their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our moms come to us that didn\u2019t have good moms to learn from,\u201d Fisher said, and being homeless can mean many things. \u201cA lot of people think of \u2018homeless\u2019 as living under a bridge,\u201d when it could just as easily be on a friend\u2019s couch.<\/p>\n

Tara, for example, \u201ccame to us with two little bitties,\u201d Fisher said \u2014 an infant and a toddler. Both children\u2019s fathers had untreated drug problems.<\/p>\n

Tara had been trying to bunk with different relatives, but at the Presbyterian Home for Children she and her children had their own apartment rather than just a couch. The staff helped her find a job and transportation, and her young children were cared for.<\/p>\n

Another mother, Temika, had a small son and was pregnant with twin girls when her husband died in a car crash.<\/p>\n

She was able to keep going for a time, but when the twins became ill, Temika missed so much work that she lost her job, then her apartment.<\/p>\n

The family lived in their Chevy Trailblazer for a couple of months, Fisher said. \u201cShe talks about the parking lots she would choose to stay in,\u201d and the people she feared would knock on her window if she didn\u2019t keep watch. \u201cTemika would stay up all night.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the spring, they moved out of their car and into an apartment at the Presbyterian Home for Children.<\/p>\n

At the Home\u2019s Fall Festival, Temika\u2019s son dressed up like Spider-Man.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went up to him and I said, \u2018Hey, Spider-Man,\u2019\u201d Marshall recalled. \u201cHe looked at me and he said, \u2018I\u2019m here to protect the city.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n


\nA chance to breathe<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Fisher, who herself was once homeless along with her children, knows how quickly things can change. Often all it takes is leaving an abusive relationship, losing a job or facing illness to deplete someone\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually went four months without anywhere to be and ended up in a really bad apartment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

By not only providing basic needs but also teaching mothers to sustain themselves, the Home lets them envision a life they may never have thought possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re allowing the moms to dream,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for them to do that when all they\u2019re thinking about is survival. We help them get the basics and get back on their feet so they\u2019re not fearful. Then they can say, do I want to go back to school?\u201d<\/p>\n

Moms are also required to give back, she said. \u201cThey participate in food and clothing drives throughout Talladega. That\u2019s one of Temika\u2019s favorite things. She\u2019s out there helping load cars with boxes of food.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow Temika can breathe.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Presbyterian Home for Children\u2019s partnership with the Synod of Living Waters is helping the Home expand its reach, especially to moms and kids needing a fresh start together. Long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":47780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47778"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47782,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47778\/revisions\/47782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}