Your church can Change Lives.
Calling to Care is a partnership between Ready for Life, Journey Community Church, and the Tampa Bay Foster Care and Adoption Alliance, helping congregations across Pinellas and Pasco counties support foster youth at every stage, from time in care to the transition into adulthood.
The Need
Every year, young people move through foster care. Some are still in placements, some aging out at 18 without the family safety net most of us take for granted. They need consistent adults, safe spaces, and communities willing to show up for the long haul.
Churches are uniquely positioned to be that community. Calling to Care exists to make it easy to start.
Find Your Role
There’s no single way to answer this calling. Whatever your congregation has to give, there’s a place for it here.
- Foster Family Recruitment: Help identify and support families in your congregation who are considering becoming licensed foster parents.
- Respite Care: Provide short-term relief for foster families, giving them rest while a child stays in a safe, familiar environment.
- Care Teams – Family Advocacy Ministries: Form a team within your church to walk alongside a foster or adoptive family with practical, ongoing support.
- Material and Tangible Essentials: Collect and provide everyday necessities for children and families in care: clothing, school supplies, hygiene items, furniture.
- Housing for Youth Aging Out: Help connect young adults leaving the foster system with safe, stable housing options.
- Mentorship: Show up consistently through school, work, and first apartments. Training and background checks are provided at no cost.
- Life Skills: Teach practical skills like budgeting, cooking, job readiness, and more, that many youth in care never had the chance to learn.
- Prayer: Commit your congregation to praying for foster youth, foster families, and the organizations that serve them.
Not sure where to start? Our team will train your congregation, no prior experience needed.
Join us at a Lunch & Learn
Date: Thursday, October 29 Time: 11:00am-1:00pm Location: Ready for Life Skill Center, Largo Directions
Join Ready for Life, Journey Community Church, and the Tampa Bay Foster Care and Adoption Alliance for lunch and a conversation about the challenges facing foster youth, both those still in the system and those aging out of it, and the difference your congregation can make.
What to expect:
- Learn — Understand what foster youth face at every stage.
- Connect — Meet Ready for Life, Journey Community Church, and TBFCAA staff and local partner organizations.
- Discover — Find the role that fits your congregation.
Lunch is provided. Seating is limited, so please register in advance using the link and form below.
Our Partners
Calling to Care brings together three organizations already doing this work in Pinellas & Pasco counties:
- Ready for Life — Changing lives beyond foster care.
- Journey Community Church — Mobilizing a local congregation to serve.
- Tampa Bay Foster Care and Adoption Alliance — Connecting churches, agencies, and families across the region.
