Streets and sidewalks in communities across the country will be filled with all kinds of odd little creatures hauling sacks and buckets door to door in a quest for bite-sized sugary treats. - By Shane Schneider
Saint Francis Community Services is in full swing for this year's "Christmas for Kids" campaign, our annual effort to put Christmas gifts under the trees of the thousands of children in our care.
“We’ve been lucky,” says Patsy. “By the time they leave, I’d say at least 50 percent of our kids have paid their fines and saved enough money to go out on their own. They’re not perfect, they make mistakes. But you can say the same about any kid. They become like our own, and we celebrate their success. Most of ours have also graduated from high school. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like seeing a kid walk down that aisle to get that diploma. If that’s the only reason I do this, it’s worth every minute.”
Ginny and Chuck finalized Hunter and Sophie’s adoption in March. And though they’ve grown their family through adoption, they remain committed foster parents – working with birth families so they can get their kids back home and helping fellow foster parents navigate the system.
The idea was Sylvia’s. Driving home to Austin after a day trip to Comfort, Texas, she turned to her husband and said, “When one of us passes on, the other should see that it goes to Saint Francis.” That was in 1995, and Sylvia passed in 2007. A few months later retired Air Force Colonel Joe Brown donated the 18-inch tall bronze statue “Dancing Saint Francis” to Saint Francis Community Services, the ministry Sylvia and he have supported since 1969.
“I just lost it and started crying,” said Christine. “This was in October, and from that point, I was allowed visitation at the hospital, through Saint Francis. The first time I saw him, he was five months old, still in ICU. As soon as I saw him, I knew he belonged to me. I just held him and adored him.”
Sometime in 1961, Geoffrey and Grace Noakes of Fresno, California, traveled to Manhattan, KS, to visit their daughter and son-in-law, Rosemary and Albert Burroughs. It was the Noakes’ first visit to Kansas; their daughter had only recently moved to Manhattan where she and Al had accepted positions on the faculty and staff of Kansas State University.
Clover House, a residential program for teenage girls who are survivors of sexual trafficking is more than a safe place. It’s a sacred place. And a home. We recently blessed this home in preparation of our first arrivals.
Saint Francis Community Services is in full swing for this year's "Christmas for Kids" campaign, our annual effort to put Christmas gifts under the trees of the thousands of children in our care.
As experts in child welfare and a provide of diverse services to at-risk youth, Saint Francis Community Services had already taken steps in response to the threat of human trafficking to children and youth in Kansas and across the nation.
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