At the Ten Talents Foundation, it’s our mission to partner with Louisville-area non-profits to help them grow and achieve their missions. One of the organizations we work with is Orphan Care Alliance (OCA), which helps to financial enable families in need adopt by providing grants and loans.
The impetus behind the organization’s founding was the Biblical verse James 1:27: “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.” With those words in mind, in 2005 five families began a grassroots effort called the Louisville Orphan Care Initiative. From the very start the goal was to assist families who felt called to adopt but were struggling to overcome the financial burden.
As their website says, OCA “desires to see every child have a home and know the love of a family with the Church community leading the effort. Knowing that welcoming a child into your home is not for every family, OCA provides opportunities to engage in orphan care, whether its adopting or advocating.”
In the beginning, the movement was largely focused on the adoption of international children, but in 2010 the serious need to help children here in the United States became apparent. Today OCA collaborates with organizations and churches across Kentucky and southern Indiana to share best practices with a network of ministries around the country.
Orphan Care Alliance serves three different populations in the spectrum of child welfare. Each ministry area works to provide positive outcomes through its own programs as well as in collaboration with other organizations.
The Family Preservation Ministry focuses on keeping biological families together through a variety of options like temporary care for children in one of its approved homes or working closely with parents to acquire the needed resources to regain stability.
The Family Support Ministry helps families choose whether fostering or adoption is the right choice for them, while also providing access to support groups, individual support, resources, and training.
OCA’s third ministry is Life Coaching, which pairs Life Coaches with a children 12 or older, who are currently or previously in foster care or who’ve been adopted. The Life Coaches helps prepare the children for the transition to adulthood, giving them an added level of support on their road to future success.
The work OCA is doing is fueled by churches and church members throughout the country. The goal is to help the church be the hands and feet of Christ to vulnerable children and that the body of Christ creates a meaningful and lasting impact for these families and their children. The Ten Talents Foundation is proud to partner with them to make that happen.
To learn more about OCA and its mission, visit https://orphancarealliance.org.
If you’d like to make a financial gift, click HERE.
