GAIL WHITE Program seeks foster parents through religious organizations

Lynn Slaina is thrilled.
For years, Slaina, the community education specialist for Mahoning County Children Services, has been in charge of recruiting the agency's foster families.
She has done everything in her power to find loving homes for neglected and abused children. Every year, her efforts produced more foster homes, but every year, there are never enough homes for the children.
Thanks to a grant for faith-based initiatives from the federal government, Slaina has, in a manner of speaking, given her search for loving families to a higher source.
The Faith Based Initiative Committee of the Mahoning County Children Services is composed of a panel of nine individuals from local churches. Many of the panel members are pastors. Some of them are foster parents. All of them have a love of children and a heart for their well-being.
"This Faith Based Initiative is about getting religious organizations to take a role in placing children who need a home," explained Elsie Dursi, executive director with the Mahoning Valley Association of Churches and head of the faith-based committee. "To share the love that you have in your home with someone who needs it desperately."
Extension of faith
"A tenet of every faith is love," said the Rev. Robert Noble of Locust Grove Baptist Church north of Salem and a member of the Faith Based Initiative panel. "It becomes an extension of your faith to offer love to these children."
The Rev. Mr. Noble can attest to the truth of his words. He and his wife, Mary Alice, have been foster parents for three years.
"Anything worthwhile is usually not always easy," he said frankly. "But far more than anything you give these children, they give you."
The Nobles reared four boys of their own. One is 17 and still at home. "All the rest have graduated, married and moved on," Mr. Noble said. The Nobles have two foster children.
"It is neat how they blend into the family," he said. "They always want to talk with the boys when they call."
It is that bond that makes being a foster parent difficult.
"The comment that I get the most," Mr. Noble explained, "is that people have thought about fostering but are afraid that they just couldn't let go."
He admits to his own heart struggle. "It is really hard to let them go. You do what you can for them while you have them." Then faith comes in. "You have to realize we are just part of the plan for their life."
The church family
Along with faith is the practical support of a church family.
"If someone decides to foster, they need prayer support from their church. They need the support of youth group ministry. They need respite support from church families," Dursi explained. "The family might take the child, but the church will surround them."
For Slaina, the Faith Based Initiative is a dream come true.
"We have a team of really eager folks," she said enthusiastically. "They are wonderful."
"Our hope is that we can get a couple of families from every faith-based community," Slaina said.
Dursi and the Faith Based Initiative Committee are working hard to make that happen.
"We are hoping to make presentations to as many churches that will invite us," she said, beaming.
"Sometimes these kids sit in an office all day, waiting to be placed in a foster home," Mr. Noble added.
"The ideal would be to have families waiting when these kids come in," Dursi said, sharing the goal of the committee.
Loving arms waiting for those in need ... reminds me of a story I learned in church.
gwhite@vindy.com
XFor information on the Faith Based Initiative, call Children Services at (330) 783-0411.