Each 111Project Family Advocacy Tour walks participants through places where lives are being transformed every day. Every stop tells a story and allows guests to experience the full spectrum of child welfare and family advocacy in our own community. From prevention to stabilization to wrap-around care, we see what it looks like to surround families in their most vulnerable moments. Participants are educated, equipped, and reminded that everyone can do something.
From participants:
“Foster care has been in my world for much of my life. My parents were foster parents when I was a teenager, and my husband and I were also foster parents for 5 years. In addition, for the last 4 years I have worked with an organization that mentors foster parents. With all this prior knowledge of foster care and available resources, I still learned a lot on the bus tour. It was very eye-opening. It was very beneficial to be on the tour with other like-minded people from different churches all across the city who want to make a difference in the world of foster care. I think it could also be very beneficial for a bus to be filled with members of just one church so that members of one congregation can share the burden and see the need together, then brainstorm how their congregation can work together to meet needs of families in their communities.” – Tara Summers, West Tulsa Church
“I think the Family advocacy bus tour was very helpful at humanizing this issue and the organizations that work within it, especially DHS and CPS. I was able to see real people, hear their stories, and see how much they care and I think it would be much harder to see that without the tour.” – Liam Molvar
“There was a kindred spirit among all of the leaders, no matter what organization we were talking with that had a genuine love to help others! Each stop was highly informed, and prepared with an immense amount of information offered through practical and connecting communication. Highly recommended for church leaders and community leaders! The stories from workers at all places were appreciated to humanize the efforts of each organization without it seeming like another system. The people you chose to speak were high-capacity leaders and it was noticeable!” – Casey Gibbons
“The knowledge that I gained today will truly make a difference in my decision to step in and support children and families. Such valuable information, the church needs to know the needs that we should be meeting.” – Denise Robertson
