Since 2020, Josiah White’s has been serving as the bridge between local congregations and families in need through our partnership with CarePortal. CarePortal is connecting technology that drives action for local children and families in crisis. The tool allows family case managers or child serving professionals the opportunity to vet needs into the platform on behalf of families they are serving, allowing churches to respond and provide an in-person connection.
Josiah White’s first became an Implementing Partner in Wabash County and recently launched CarePortal in Grant County. We currently have 45 active responding CarePortal Churches serving needs across Wabash, Miami, Elkhart, Fulton, Cass, and Grant counties.
“By placing this platform into the church’s laps, we are serving out our mission as a Christ-centered organization while also strengthening our relationship with our churches,” said Megan Lehner, Josiah White’s CarePortal Manager. “There might be those within a church body who feel called to foster or even adopt, but they’re just not sure how to get there. Filling a tangible need’s request on behalf of the families in need within our own community is a much easier on-ramp that still provides support. Most importantly, CarePortal is bringing awareness to the foster care crisis and empowering the Church to fulfill its mission.”
The CarePortal process includes the following steps:
Step 1: Uncovering needs – A child or family in need requires help from a caseworker.
Step 2: Submitting needs – A CarePortal-approved caseworker vets the need and enters it into CarePortal.
Step 3: Sharing needs – CarePortal alerts nearby churches and community members about the need.
Step 4: Meeting needs – An in-person connection is made, allowing the church to ensure that the family receives help and possibly even a new support system.
When a request is submitted, the caseworker includes the overall purpose of the request, such as helping prevent a child from entering foster care, helping make an adoptive, foster care or kinship placement, or helping support a teen aging out of foster care, to give a few examples. When CarePortal launched in Grant County, the first need was responded to exactly 30 minutes after it was submitted to the Responding Churches!
During this process of meeting tangible needs requests, CarePortal seeks to create opportunities for lasting relationships to grow, providing a new support system to struggling families. These relationships will open doors that allow volunteers to share the love of Christ with the families they are serving.
“CarePortal easily flows into our mission statement here at Josiah White’s…CarePortal serves as a modern tool that has allowed Josiah White’s to physically, emotionally, spiritually, and developmentally initiate and begin the healing process for vulnerable families. Simply put, it has allowed us to put our mission statement into action,” said Megan.
If you are interested in getting your church involved with CarePortal through Josiah White’s, please register here or contact Megan Lehner at megan.lehner@whitesrfs.org.
