Corsicana Independent School District (CISD), led by Head Baseball Coach Heath Autrey and several Corsicana High School and Navarro College athletic teams joined forces with Arms of Hope to orchestrate community donations of toys, food, and money to provide for local families in need this holiday season.

Collection points at the area schools, administration building and baseball field house at Corsicana High School provided ample space for more than 1,000 toys, and $1,000 in gift cards and monetary donations.

In partnership with Arms of Hope – an organization that provides assistance to at-risk youth and families in their own neighborhoods – donations have poured in from students, community groups, churches and individuals.

“The support is overwhelming,” says Coach Heath Autrey. “I am very proud to be a part of this project and grateful for the generosity of our community, schools and athletic teams at CISD and Navarro College.”

Arms of Hope has been instrumental in helping local students all year by providing food to families over the weekends. The organization is assisting in food donations to keep the pantries stocked over the holiday break. In exchange for food donations, any left over toys, after serving our local families, will be used to assist Arms of Hope with outreach programs for single moms.

“Our hope is that our every student and family in our district will have food and gifts over the holiday break,” said Dr. Diane Frost, CISD superintendent. “I applaud all our schools, and the leadership of Coach Autrey and Billy Harlan for working hard to make this a reality.”

In all, approximately 100 local students and their families will be served by the generosity of the Corsicana/Navarro County community and Arms of Hope.

On the surface the program looks relatively simple: The residents learn to ride and take care of a horse. They are taught basic skills such as grooming, riding, caring for the horse, learning about the animals and the tack. However, they are also learning to build trust, relationships, self-confidence, teamwork, responsibility, assertiveness, communication, respect, self-control and a multitude of other skills.

The equine therapy program may benefit children with:

Abuse issues (sexual, verbal and physical)
Violence and neglect issues
Substance abuse issues
Lack of self-esteem, confidence and respect
Poor listening skills
Attention deficit problems
Lack of trust
Poor relationship skills
Attachment problems
Depression
Anxiety
Poor communication skills
Lack of response to traditional therapies
Residents begin the program in the Balcom Learning Center, where they participate in therapeutic groups. This includes the Equine Therapy group. As they work and show progress in dealing with their own individual issues, they begin to help to teach others in the groups and to participate in the 4-H program. Some advance through the program to the point where they can ride in shows, in parades, or work as wranglers with Children’s Homes’ trail-riding program.

Donations of money, horses, volunteering or tack are gladly accepted and will be used to their fullest. These are tax deductible donations.

For information, contact Trish Copeland.

Read The Commercial Appeal’s Faith & Values story about how the gift of adoption changed the life of one family forever.

Go to www.AgapeMeansLove.org to read the full story.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., congratulated Agape Child & Family Services of Memphis and Jackson on being recognized as a 2011 Angel in Adoption for their advocacy of adoption and foster care issues.

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), which orchestrates the Angels in Adoption program, honored Agape, along with more than 140 other “angels,” at an awards ceremony and gala event in Washington on October 5th.

“I was proud to nominate Agape Child & Family Services for this award,” said Corker. “For over 42 years they have been committed to serving thousands of children and families in West Tennessee. Their good work serves as an example to us all.”

Agape Child & Family Services, a Christian-based organization with locations in Memphis and Jackson, is being honored for their commitment to providing children and families with healthy homes through community restoration, homeless services, mentoring, foster care, adoption, maternity services and counseling. Agape will serve more than 18,000 children, adults and families this year through its services.

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan organization dedicated to raising awareness about the tens of thousands of orphans and foster children in the United States and the millions of orphans around the world in need of permanent, safe, and loving homes through adoption.

The Angels in Adoption program is CCAI’s signature public awareness campaign and provides an opportunity for members of Congress to honor the good work of their constituents who have enriched the lives of foster children and orphans in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit http://www.ccainstitute.org/.

This event was designed to raise awareness of domestic violence and its affect upon children and families and provide education on building healthy relationships to the residents of Autumn Ridge Apartments in Hickory Hill.

Purple Light Nights encourages residents to shine a purple light on their front porch, hang a string of purple lights in business windows, and decorate trees with purple lights – all in an effort to send the message that “Domestic violence has no place in our community.”

This local event honored fallen victims Ashley Scott, Charlene Gaither and Taffi Crawford. Autumn Ridge residents received information from The Exchange Club Family Center, Crime Victims Center and even a self-defense demonstration from black belt, Andre’ Mays. There was also a book signing by Kamekio Lewis, author of Looking 4 Love In All the Wrong Places. In addition, Joyce Parkinson, founder of Walking Into A New Life, shared encouraging words and an account of her personal testimony with attendees.

To address the issue of domestic violence in our city, Agape is intentionally expanding its Families in Transition (FIT) program, which serves homeless, pregnant women and their children, to serve up to 10 additional families with transitional housing and supportive services. Effective January 1, 2012, homeless mothers and their children who are victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking will receive these services in Agape’s Bent Tree apartment community in Whitehaven.

Purple Light Nights culminated with the lighting of a purple tree and the release of purple balloons in memory of the fallen victims. For more information about Purple Light Nights or how your organization can partner with Powerlines Community Network, led by Agape and its community partners, please contact Powerlines Community Network director, Kristee Bell, at 901-323-3600.

With offices in Memphis (111 Racine) and Jackson, TN, Agape Child & Family Services is a Christian-based organization which provides children and families with healthy homes in the regional area through community restoration, homeless services, mentoring, adoption, foster care, maternity services and counseling. Agape will serve more than 10,000 children, adults and families this year through its services. For more information on Agape Child & Family Services or to find out how you can become part of the effort to adopt, foster, mentor and support the children in our community, call 901.323.3600 or visit www.AgapeMeansLove.org

Almost 50% of pregnancies in the United States are unintended. Of those, over 40% end in abortion. The purpose of adoption is to give a parent facing an unplanned pregnancy an opportunity to give their child life and plan for their future by placing them into a loving, Christian home.

Adoption ministers to everyone involved. For a birth parent, it provides the chance to make a loving, responsible, and painful choice. It allows them to put the needs of their child before their own wants or desires. They are able to choose a family to raise their child, entrusting them to love and nurture the child as much as the birth parent does.

Adoption allows adoptive parents to grow or create their family. It also allows families to be obedient to the call of the Lord in James 1:27 to care for the orphans. Adoption lets adoptive parents be a part of the Lord’s plan to “set the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:6). Adoption is the framework through which the Lord ensures that family-less children find families.

For children, adoption provides a Christian family. Families are God’s perfect design. Through a family, children find love, nurture, and healing. Families provide the foundation of faith. Children are able to grow up in the optimal environment for success when they have a Christian family.

Adoption matters to us because it matters to God. What a blessing it is to be part of God’s plan for all children to have families. At Christian Services of Oklahoma, we have the opportunity to help create families through domestic adoption, international adoption support services, and foster care. I invite you to join us in this special ministry.

When they led the 4th graders at their church in a study on the book of James, one particular verse kept speaking to the Blacks…”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) And then when their church participated in an Orphan Sunday event, the Blacks felt convicted that God was speaking to their hearts. That’s when they took the first step to adopt.

After lots of prayer and research, the Blacks chose to adopt 2 children from Russia through Children of the World, an agency in Mobile. The process took 21 months to complete. But Olivia Ann and John Mark are now officially part of the Black family!

“The waiting is when you need God the most, and He was there through every delay and document. We really believe that if you step out of your comfort zone, God will help you survive it all and bless you in the process,” says Rayla.
For so many families, God has laid out His adoption plan. Whether the catalyst is infertility or answering His call (or both!), families are rising up to “vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute; rescue the weak and needy.” (Psalm 82:3-4) God is taking center stage in the need to defend the orphan…and He’s asked us to join Him.

Unite with Agape to help create more families like the Blacks. There are many ways you can join this ministry. Your financial support is vital to our efforts. Click here to donate today! And, as always, we are here to serve. Please contact me if I can be of assistance in any way.

Thank you,
Jimmy Dobbs, Director

Call us to inquire about your situation and where you would like to be served. At this point, we have connections in 20 different states.