Did you know that on any given month in Pinellas county…

1. 97 children will enter foster care
2. Sibling groups are brought into foster care and split into separate foster homes, group homes and shelters
3. More than 150 “legal orphans” are available for adoption
4. of those entering care:
1. 26 will be for substance abuse or neglect by caregiver
2. 25 will be victims of violence or sexual abuse

Statistics show us that of these children…

1. 54.4% will have clinical levels of at least one mental health problem
2. PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) rates are twice as high as they are for US war veterans
3. 33%  will be placed in 8 or more foster homes
4. 22% of these children will experience homelessness

What is Gods heart to these children in crisis?

1. Psalm 67:5-6: A father to the fatherless,  a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families…
2. Psalm 10:18: Defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
3. Matthew 18:5: and whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
4. Over 60 more scriptures are devoted to the fatherless the widow and the alien.  These people are the most defenseless in our society. 

Our Heart

To minister to the children and families in these crisis situations by:

1. Providing safe and loving homes for children to be placed in once removed from their home.
2. Work with the biological parents to help prevent children from being removed, or once removed, help toward reconciliation.
3. Be a resource for foster parents by providing:  baby-sitting, mentors for foster children, parenting classes, assistance in providing home necessities and equipment.

The Solution

To meet the desire of our Father’s heart, we have created 4KIDS of West Central Florida.

4KIDS will work closely with Children’s Home Society to recruit, train, license and support families or  individuals who will provide quality, loving care for these children.

Please join with us as we make positive advances in the lives of children and parents in the name of Jesus.

Our Mission

 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me,” Mark 9:36

Children are precious in the eyes of Christ and they are the future of our world. Foster children have experienced devastating loss emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Foster Heart Link’s purpose is to organize and mobilize the body of Christ to promote healing and restoration by showing the love of our God to these children and their families. We will accomplish this by providing loving care, godly counsel, and support services in order that they may fulfill the call of God on their lives.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world,” James 1:27.

How Can you help?

1. Prayerfully consider becoming a foster parent.
2. Volunteer to become a babysitter for foster children.
3. Open your home on a short-term basis for foster children (Respite Care Giver).
4. Become a financial partner with 4KIDS.
5. Donate cribs, beds and new or like new clothing to the foster care Co-Op.
6. Prayerfully consider becoming a Parent Aide, or Guardian Ad Litem. 

A Testimony.

There may be a lot of questions about foster care that may be keeping you from getting involved. Please read about a family from Calvary Chapel who not only got involved with foster care, but ended up adopting their foster child. Click here to read the Jantomaso family testimony.