Fresh life church helps Child Bridge

Before searching Polson’s streets for trash, members of Fresh Life Church were collecting food for a Bigfork foster family. The two-purpose weekend was intended to reach out the family of nine kids and their supervisors who live on the east shore area of Flathead Lake.

The food was donated to Child Bridge, whose mission it is to find and support foster and adoptive families for Montana children in need. It was then passed on to the family.

Mary Bryan, Child Bridge Montana operations director, said the statewide outreach began its local history in the Flathead Valley during 2001, expanded to Billings in 2014 and to Lincoln and Lake counties this summer.

“The foster/adoptive journey can be difficult and complex and our goal is to let communities know about the need for foster families,” she said.

In addition Child Bridge assists interested families on their journey and provides supports that can strengthen the family and make caring for their foster children’s short and long-term care easier.

“Each time a child is moved, their trauma is increased,” Bryan said. “Our work with the families can strengthen and encourage them which may result in better outcomes for children in foster care, such as fewer moves for children.”

Bryan said that in Lake County, several church organizations offered their facilities for foster care monthly resource and guidance meetings.

Meals and childcare are provided during guidance meetings and offer foster parents a chance to interact with their peers, and learn more about topics related to their children and their exposure to traumatic experiences.

Child Bridge will serve Lake County out of its Bigfork office and will work with trained and licensed Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribal Services, State of Montana Child and Family Services and therapeutic foster care programs like Partnership for Children.

Bryan said the need for more foster families is high across the state and getting the food donation from Fresh Life Church helped in various ways.

“The food they collected during this food drive went to a Child Bridge-supported family and was just one of the many practical ways they are stepping up to serve their community and they have been a wonderful partner and are such an amazing church in their outreach.”

Child Bridge has a network of outreach opportunities for those interested in working through the foster care charity including delivering a meal once a week to a foster family, hosting a parent’s night out, assisting with school supplies, offering gas or dining out card, sending a note of encouragement, talking with them about their needs and challenges. The opportunities to assist are really limitless.”