Hello, Jacksonville!
We’re expanding our Better Families program to Clay, Duval and Nassau counties.
We first arrived in the Bold City area with our Better Jobs program in 2016. That’s when we started partnering with Jacksonville-area churches, including The Church of Eleven22, The Ville, Christian Family Chapel and Awaken. In 2018, we held our very first second-chance job fair, which included a coalition of community partners, such as Operation New Hope and the Clara White Mission.
Now we’re working with churches, volunteers and local organizations to bring about our Better Families program to prevent the need for foster care by coming alongside families in crisis and supporting them by offering short-term hosting for their children and resources to help parents help themselves, whether that’s an addiction recovery program, therapy, employment or other needs.
Our program is completely voluntary, funded with private dollars, and our team of child welfare professionals support the process the entire way.
We are grateful to have more than 20 churches partnering with us in Northeast Florida and dozens of volunteers taking the first step to get involved.
“We are excited to partner with Better Together and are looking forward to seeing what God will do,” says Andrew Roberts, pastor for Awaken Church. “When you read the scripture, God has such heart for the poor, for the needy, for the orphans, for those families who truly are struggling. Why would we not want to partner with an organization like this to love kids, love families and turn the whole foster care system around in our state via love and the church?”
“To hear the impact that Better Together has had in other cities — the families they’ve been able to help, and how not only did they impact the city but also strengthen the church — it just makes perfect sense to have them in our city,” says Jason Masters, lead pastor for Bold City Church. “To be able to make sure that they get established here and that they exist here is huge to us.”
We are on track to serve the tri-county region by year’s end.
Churches interested in more information or becoming a Better Together partner are encouraged to email mellissa@bettertogetherus.org. Individuals can request to learn more about the program or apply to volunteer directly on our Volunteer page.
