Needs of two mothers were met, gift cards were provided for children waiting on placement 

ENID – Items on the 111Project’s Garfield County Community Gathering agenda included sharing stories, discussing available resources and fulfilling one open CarePortal request.  

Three requests – two from CarePortal and one for gift cards to feed children waiting on placement – were met during the one-hour Community Gathering. 

“We’re all together here,” 111Project Regional Manager Jennifer Holbert said. “We’ve got resources all in this room and connections. How can we get at least one request answered while we’re here?”   

CarePortal, a growing connection network managed by 111Project, allows agency partners – like Oklahoma Department of Human Services Child Welfare – to submit requests to the community and local churches to serve families in need.   

The first CarePortal request was for a mother who was preparing for reunification with her children. She had just moved and needed hygiene items, paper towels, trash bags and toilet paper.  

The second CarePortal request was for a mother who was travelling to two different counties for visitation with her children and needed some gas cards.  

Angela Williams, a responder from Emmanuel Enid who led the meeting, said everyone in the meeting was able to put their heads together to provide the items needed for the two mothers, including up to $140 in gas cards.  

“She was able to start making those visits … without having this financial burden of paying for gas,” Williams said. 

Another opportunity to serve arose during the meeting: gift cards to local restaurants.  

“A lot of times those caseworkers, while they’re trying to find placement for these kiddos, they’ll just use their own money to buy a meal or two,” Williams said.  

Williams is a foster parent and is involved in a community group. She said her group has been looking for ways to help – after hearing of this need, her group was able to rally $120 in gift cards within the hour.  

“It was a really cool way that our community group could support and help those kiddos in that really tough transition,” she said. “I think sometimes we underestimate just the power of a good meal.” 

Garfield County has 80 children in foster care as of April 1, according to monthly numbers released by the OKDHS. The goal of these monthly Garfield Community Gatherings is to bring community members into the conversation so more resources can be shared. 

111Project is a not-for-profit 501c3 with the mission to mobilize the local church so every child has family. The organization’s initial goal is to mobilize 1,000 churches across Oklahoma that can serve at least one family a month on CarePortal and recruit and support a foster family every year.      

If 1,000 out of the 6,200 churches in Oklahoma commit to recruit and support one foster family a year, and serve one family a month on CarePortal, the state will move closer to having more than enough help for children and families in crisis. 

“I am seeing the Lord bring people together in a really extraordinary way,” Holbert said. “Churches, different denominations – the unity that’s happening through CarePortal and 111Project is incredible. DHS is actively seeking to sit in a room with church leaders, and vice versa. Across denominations, we’re sitting across from each other. I’ve got a room with people from Assemblies of God and Catholic churches, Baptist churches and non-denominational churches – we’re in a room together, and we’re collaborating on how to serve kids and families. It’s incredible.” 

Holbert said it’s important for OKDHS and churches to be in the room because it breaks down communication barriers.  

“Let’s be proactive in these moments,” she said. “Let’s be ahead of the curve with like gathering resources, rather than waiting for the crisis to come to us.”  

The next Garfield Community Gathering will be on June 1. More information will be available soon on the 111Project event calendar.  

“We ask the Lord to kind of show up and, and he does every time,” Holbert said. “It’s crazy what happens in that space.” 

Any churches or individuals interested in learning more or getting involved can visit 111project.org.