Jesus' first action as he descends from the mountain after the Transfiguration
is to heal a young boy and restore him to his father (Luke 9:37-43). In the same way the community of faith is called
to put their spiritual experiences into action by engaging in ministries that promote healing and wholeness to those families
within their community.
Every year over 5,000 children come to the attention of the Fulton County Juvenile Court system
because adults have failed them – sometimes by providing poor parental leadership,
sometimes by abusing, neglecting or exploiting them. In many of these cases, children are separated from their parent and put into foster care. While the central
concern of the Court is the protection of the child, its underlying goal is reunification of parent and child.
Begin Again is a program ministry at St. John’s, in partnership with the Fulton County
Juvenile Court, and the Fulton County Department of Family and Children Services, which provides supervised visitations for
children and their families during evening and weekend hours. It was the first visitation program in Fulton County operated outside the office of
the Department of Family and Children Services.
The mission of the supervised
visitation program is to provide and maintain a safe, neutral setting in which the contact between a child and an adult (usually
the parent), or other child sibling(s), can be monitored by individuals able to protect the rights and well-being of the child
while working toward family reunification.
St. John’s
Visitation Program
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** With the supervision of trained volunteers, children
are able to visit with their parent(s) in the evening or on weekends. Without
a visitation program in the community, a child is likely to only visit with a parent between the hours of 8:00 a. m. –
5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday once a month for two hours, which equates to ONE DAY or 24 hours A Year!
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** St. John’s is also conveniently located near a Marta station. Many parents walk approximately three blocks
from Marta to the church to visit with their children.
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** St. John’s strives to provide a comfortable atmosphere where children can feel relaxed to visit with a
parent(s), whether playing games or talking about their day at school.
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** Currently
our visitation hours are 6:30 p.m.– 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, and 9:30
a.m. – 12:00 noon on Saturdays. |
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If you have the time and the desire to help in the goal of reuniting parents with their
children, please send your contact information to Kei Breedlove at kei@bellsouth.net. God bless you!
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