The Resilient Families Network: For the Flourishing of Vulnerable Families

“When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves, praise the Lord!”  

When Deborah sang that song in Judges 5:2, the Lord had just accomplished an incredible victory for Israel. He had used the bold obedience of a few faithful, undaunted people in the face of overwhelming odds to lead Israel into triumphant battle.  

There’s a battle going on in the Greater Charlotte area right now too, a battle for family preservation. Parents and children - our neighbors - are facing seemingly hopeless situations alone. Children are entering foster care, and fewer than half of them are returning home to their parents.  

More than 83% of children who enter foster care in North Carolina do so because of neglect or dependency, not abuse. Neglect and dependency, from a legal perspective, are acts of omission: a parent failing to provide adequately for a child's basic physical, educational, medical, and emotional needs. For some families, that meant there was simply no safe childcare alternative during a parent crisis. For others, a parent lacked critical support and community that could have prevented neglect from occurring.  

At Alongside Families, we believe the local church is the answer to keeping families intact. For years, the Church has championed caring for vulnerable children through foster care and adoption, and we are deeply grateful for the Church leading in those spaces. 

It's time for the Church to also lead in family preservation: keeping families of origin from being separated in the first place.

What if the Church could become so effective in proactively caring for vulnerable families that the foster care system could focus solely on child abuse cases?  

What if most isolated families could find care within the local church before the government ever needs to get involved? 

The cost of the Church holding back from family preservation is too great: 

• Children who enter foster care in NC stay there an average of 20 months. 

• Only 43% of children in foster care in NC will be reunified with their parent(s).

• 70% of children in foster care are there because of the effects of social isolation and poverty.  

• For youth who age out of foster care: 

  • 50% will abuse substances 

  • 60% of young men will be incarcerated 

  • 70% of young women will become pregnant by age 21 

  • Only 3% will get a college degree 

  • 46% will experience homelessness  

When the Church bridges the gap and stands for family preservation, it makes a world of difference. We have seen first-hand what can happen when the local church enters the battle (as Deborah did for the Israelites). With a few faithful, undaunted people facing overwhelming odds, we have already had our share of victories.

Through our partner churches, Alongside Families has:

• Provided 360+ child hostings

• Provided 4,900+ nights of care

• Reunified 100% of children with their parent(s) 

• Connected 146 isolated families and 205 children into loving community through the local church

This is only the beginning. The need in our community is enormous. Every week, community agencies and service providers reach out to Alongside Families directly asking for help. That means secular agencies are asking the Church to lead the way in keeping families together. If the Body of Christ links arms to stand for family preservation in the Greater Charlotte area, we can build a city where the Church is the first place that vulnerable families turn for care.

We believe that the Church in our city has been prepared for this very moment to boldly respond to the call to battle. Our prayer is that over the next 5 years, we will see a powerful church awakening for family preservation in our city: That we will have 60 partner churches across the greater Charlotte area “taking the lead” and that Christ-followers will “willingly offer themselves” to serve our neighbors through biblical hospitality.

This network will connect and equip the Church to care for families who are at risk or already involved in the child welfare system, strengthening resiliency so families can flourish. No single church can meet the need in our city alone. Too many children face instability, and too many parents are left without the support they need to hold their families together.

The Resilient Families Network will unite churches across Greater Charlotte so we can respond at scale, ensuring no family falls through the cracks.