Fatherhood FIRE classes begin in April, and the Saint Francis fatherhood team is excited to bring education, support and hope to fathers and families. Classes are free, and you don't need a referral to participate!
SALINA, Kansas – March 4, 2021 – Nancy Montanez Johner will join the Saint Francis Ministries Omaha, Nebraska, team as the new regional vice president.
It’s been said that “timing is everything.” Consider how often a chance encounter has altered the direction of a life – or lives? Kim Johnson never saw it coming, yet five years ago she embarked on a journey that has provided hope and empowerment to dozens of youths in foster care - while healing herself along the way.
Joseph’s younger sister, Vanessa, passed away four days after giving birth in December 2018. At her death, her two daughters from a previous relationship went to live with their birth father’s family. Four days after her mother passed, Alexis turned 10 years old. The girls entered foster care in January 2018, and in April, they came to live with Joseph and Tonya as a kinship placement. None of their lives would be the same – and yet, they were all the better for it.
Every morning, Jim Zamrzla heads out the door to work on the 5,000 acres he and Stephanie farm near Holyrood, Kansas. They raised three boys and a girl on that land, each of them learning the importance of chipping in and helping out to support the needs of the family. So, when their daughter and youngest child, Taylor, prepared to leave home, the couple wondered just how much their lives would change – and how quiet their house would soon become.
Their story begins a mere three years ago, or eight, if you consider how long Shiyrah and Shadow spent trying locked door after locked door. When they finally found the one that opened, they discovered God’s fingerprints all over it. This month, the six of them formally become one, a Williams family on paper as well as in their hearts.
Anti-human trafficking agencies throughout the country graciously shared their resources and time in a survey conducted by Saint Francis Ministries to produce a listing of the number of beds available to survivors of Commercial Sex Exploitation and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, or CSE/C. This listing is designed to be a resource to communities, nonprofits, and government leaders who are working to develop stronger networks of support for survivors and to connect them with these services.
A collaboration between Saint Francis Ministries and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will offer Picayune area adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities opportunities for fun and educational activities. Saint Francis Day Services – Adult opened its doors Aug. 3, 2020, at 1421 Goodyear Blvd., in a building at St. Paul’s campus that formerly housed the parish’s education center.
Four months after receiving their first placement, Noah and Kelsey Mathes felt as if their hearts were breaking. Phoning family to tell them that the little girl they’d cared for since she was eight months old would be returning home had seemed completely natural. After all, they’d called everybody when they learned she would be placed with the Abilene, Texas, couple. Those conversations, however, were celebratory; this one … not so much. Yet, Noah could still say to Kelsey, “I’ve never been so okay with being so sad.”
As world leaders officially declared a coronavirus pandemic in March, Saint Francis Ministries’ policy and advocacy team began the important work of determining how children and families would be impacted. The work continues today as the United States and those we serve continue to be affected by COVID-19.
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