Friends And Family

Breaking Barriers in Foster Care: Georgia Downey's Miami Mission

• Gods Way Radio

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Have you ever wondered about the power of a single act of kindness? We're diving into the heart of this question with Georgia Downey, the dynamic director of Explore Foster Miami. Georgia took us on an enlightening journey, giving us a raw glimpse into the foster care system, its underlying issues, and the crucial role each one of us can play. 

We tackle the heavy topics of fatherlessness, broken families, and human trafficking as root causes often leading to foster care. Georgia emphasizes the significance of prevention and the imperative need to keep families together. We debunk myths that suggest getting involved in foster care is too daunting, shedding light on the various ways you can contribute - from becoming a guardian ad litem to providing support to foster families. 

We also delve into the paramount importance of mentorship within the foster care system, especially for teenagers. These young individuals face unique challenges, and having a mentor can be the game-changer they need. Georgia shares her personal experiences as the founder of Explore Foster Miami, illustrating how every small act can create a ripple effect in the lives of these children. By the end of our conversation, you'll have gained a new understanding of the foster care system, the power of community, and the difference you can make, one child at a time. Join us as we explore the uncharted waters of foster care, challenge misconceptions, and inspire you to take action.

Tiffany:

You're tuned in to Friends and Family, a God's Way radio exclusive where we introduce you to some amazing people. In John, chapter 15, verse 15, jesus says I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you. That's our aim that God would be made known to you. Stay with us until the end of our conversation for more information on this program and other unique offerings from God's Way radio.

Joey:

God's Way radio family. Great to be with you today. We have a special guest in the studio. Actually just made her acquaintance recently. We'll get into that story possibly in this time together. Her name is Georgia Downey and she is the director of Explore Foster, miami. Great to be with you, georgia. Thank you for coming.

Georgia:

Oh, my goodness, what a blessing to be here. Pastor Joey, thank you so much for having me.

Joey:

So let's jump right into it. What is Explore Foster, miami?

Georgia:

Well, we are new. We really just kind of launched right when the pandemic hit in 2020 and we are a faith-based city-wide initiative, and so we are here to raise up the community so that children and families in and out of the foster care system have the support to flourish.

Joey:

So do you just love doing really hard things?

Georgia:

Is that?

Joey:

why you started in the band.

Georgia:

Pretty much right.

Joey:

I'm guessing that wasn't planned. I mean, you probably started in January or something.

Georgia:

Yeah, so we started out of this amazing movement called Explore God, and some of you guys might have gone to this kind of connecting church-wide community event to really explore, like does God exist?

Georgia:

And so there was this amazing group of people, all connected through the foster care system, that kind of formed a what we call an advisory committee and wanted to figure out what is a city outcome from this event that we can move forward to and also cover the gamut of causes that are in issues that are happening in our city. So, when you think of the fatherlessness, broken families, right, human trafficking, juvenile delinquency, drug addictions, mental illness, a foster care really is covered under the umbrella of all of these things, unfortunately. And so this amazing committee was formed and at the same time we had this phenomenal champion donor who was out of state and felt called to really start a revival in our city. And we had this amazing donation and this amazing committee and I was hired, along with two wonderful people to, I guess, first figure out well, if we want to remain local, which we really do what are our issues happening in our city? Not?

Georgia:

what's happening in Broward, not what's happening in Monroe, but what's happening in Miami.

Joey:

And so it's like hyper-local, because usually you hear South Florida, south Florida, south Florida, right.

Georgia:

We really felt like God, the Holy Spirit, was calling us to stay local and other people you might feel called to stay, try county or state or national, but we really felt called to be local and be a local initiative. And so we started writing this report and I initially, in my, I guess, humanity, thought that it would take-.

Joey:

I can knock this out.

Georgia:

I know I can knock this out in a few months and I didn't really know anything about foster care, so it was a huge leap of faith for me to do this, and what was initially going to take a few months over the summer took seven months to write this engagement report and from there, what a blessing it was. We interviewed over 60 stakeholders over time and it's still growing. Day by day we're meeting new community partners and church partners. But really, to figure out what's happening in our city locally and how can we as a community rally around corporately to solve these issues?

Joey:

Yeah, you know there's so much that you mentioned that we could dive into. If I heard you correctly, if I'm summarizing correctly please, please, let me know if it's a correct summary how foster care is almost a symptom of other issues, more than the issue itself. Truly so that's really incredible to think about and, you know, for people that don't have contact involvement in the foster care system, people may or might not know I happen to be a foster parent. It's an incredible joy. It's very difficult sometimes, but it's an incredible blessing and this is, you know, I don't know if this makes sense or I don't know.

Joey:

This is like, yeah, maybe I'm the only person that had this realization. These are real families. This is a mom and her son. This is a dad, this is a potential dad, a person waiting on a paternity test. I mean, this is. You see these people in your court hearings and you go, whoa, this just got real. So I love what you mentioned Again, if I heard correctly, how you're not just God has not called you guys just to help that son or daughter, but to help that mom, that dad, that aunt, that grandmother.

Georgia:

Right, yeah, exactly. So you know all of our, the larger part of our initiative. We are a faith-based initiative, so we are here to engage the local church and have everybody working corporately together and that's one of my favorite things to do. But another branch of support that we focus on is prevention, because in our report, you know, we found out that the majority of cases, aside from egregious abuse, neglect and abandonment, and of course those children need to be removed permanently from the home, but the majority of cases are the single mom you know in Florida City who is getting ready to lose her rights and have them terminated because she has mental illness and she just can't get herself together.

Georgia:

But she's also in an abusive relationship and she can't get herself together. And so when you say these are real people, our hearts, god has burdened our hearts because we know collectively that he wants to keep families together. He doesn't want to split mom and dad up and child up from the home. And so what preventative measures, what partners can we connect with that can help support this branch initiative, which is prevention, which is so important because ideally, children shouldn't have to go into the system. You know, if we can help support the biological parents to get back on their feet in some capacity.

Joey:

Yeah, you know even the foster care system or foster parents. In a sense they're kind of like option number 345 down the line. They look for a grandma.

Joey:

They look for a aunt they look for a neighbor, they look for a church member. As far as the state intervening, it's a couple calls down the line when they call a foster parent per se. So really incredible, I hope, what many of our listeners are learning right now. Hey, we just tuned in. We're talking to Georgia Downey, director of Explore Foster Miami, and if you've listened to God's Radio, if you know me, my name's Joey.

Joey:

I have the privilege of hosting some of the programs here. You know that I'm a foster parent and so this is near and dear to my heart and this is a blessing to have Georgia here today, and I hope that you will listen carefully and then be able to respond accordingly. Georgia, you made a comment and again, as much as you want to answer, in a previous conversation you told me a little bit. You said you didn't know anything about foster care, but you maybe knew something about foster care from growing up. So I don't know how much you wanna share, and just, you know how God does things in our lives, even maybe when we're not knowing what he's doing.

Georgia:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, I definitely had a hard, dysfunctional upbringing. That's kind of part of my testimony as to what God has done in my own life and how he has restored and redeemed me and how grateful I am for my relationship with Jesus. And so I think you know no, I didn't know kind of the facts and the phrasing and all of the information the education of foster care, but I definitely know what it feels like to be in a dysfunctional situation and so you know that immediately drew me in right. And so I think, for people who think that foster care is too big or too scary, or I don't have the capacity to help, like it's just too much, or I'm not called to be a foster parent, so what can I do?

Georgia:

Well, there's this, you know, wonderful organizations that literally just nationally, focus on this idea that everybody can do something and that we all have gifts and treasures that God has given us, that we can support a family. So maybe you are in the education system and you could be a tutor for a couple of hours to a child, or what they call a guardian of light, which is a child advocate in court. Gosh, we need guardians. The guardians are amazing.

Joey:

And you know, even myself I have guardian ad libs in hearings all the time. I still don't know exactly what they do. My placements have been babies, so they don't say much. So let's dive right into that. What is a guardian light? What do they do? What would someone be doing if they said, yeah, I wanna try, I wanna be a guardian ad light.

Georgia:

Yeah, absolutely, and I know the guardians can speak a lot more on this. But basically, in layman's terms, a guardian is a voice for the child in court, and so, you know, there are attorneys for the foster parent and for the biological parent, but a lot of the times, especially if a child is young, they don't have that voice that's emanating as much in court. And so an advocate, a guardian, is going to spend time with the child, you know, advocate for the child. What's the best school for them to be in? Is this the best situation for visitations? And really be that active voice in court which is so needed.

Joey:

You know what comes to mind and it's finally clicking for me how they're that outside or objective pair of eyes in a sense, because this word's finally clicking for me. I always thought, well, the foster parent is doing that. But sometimes you need that outside perspective, you know, to look at both parties, to look at all parties and say, you know what? I'm kind of an observer here and I've made a different observation.

Georgia:

I made a unique observation. Yes, and you know foster parents, their heart is postured towards loving the child, even if the goal is reunification back with the biological parent. So there are emotions involved, and rightly so, you know. So that guardian is really kind of that objective view to see. Well, you know what's happening on the foster parent side, what's happening on the bio side and what's best for the child in this situation.

Joey:

That's wonderful, you know. Again, I'm just thinking of so many people that could be listening that they think, well, I can't do this, I can't do this, and they're hearing they go. I can do that maybe I do that already you know, Maybe they're an aunt, an uncle, and they're. It's a funny picture in my head. They're kind of like the referee you know, in the family.

Joey:

Hey, this, you're not seeing this, you're seeing this. So maybe you can do that for a foster child. Put your skills to work. Hey, georgia, I wanna give you an opportunity to just really talk about how people can get involved. We've mentioned some things already, but you know, maybe you know even more specifically or practically where's the website? What's the first step? And again, thinking of the different ways to get involved, what would be the first step in getting involved? You know, I'm actually gonna change directions here. I'm throwing a curveball at you.

Joey:

I think people might be listening and we've just kind of touched the surface a little bit. What's the need? You know what's the need. What do I mean by that? There's people doing foster parenting. There's, you know and again this sounds very cynical, but I'm trying to think of who's listening, who could possibly be listening. You know people are doing that already. It's being taken care of. George is doing it. You know what's the need. Why are you trying to? I think the word he uses activate people, encourage people. Why Isn't it being done? I mean, it's been being done for 50 years. Foster kids are getting taken care of. Obviously I'm being very cynical here, but trying to make a point. Tell us about the need.

Georgia:

Well, you know, they're just like in a biological child situation. It takes a village to raise a child, you know, and in a foster, a child in care, you know, I don't like to just label them a foster child, but a child in care because they're really a child of God.

Georgia:

They have gone through removal. They've been removed from the middle of the night from their siblings, from their mom and dad, from their community, more than likely. Everything you know, everything that they know, and so there's a lot of trauma that happens to a child, even very young, that they can't really vocalize. And so for a foster parent to really take on the call and do this, a foster parent needs a lot of support, just like a regular parent needs a lot of support.

Georgia:

So the idea that it's being taken care of is not really happening to the level and degree that it needs to be. You know the level of support that a foster parent needs and that the child needs. You know, not just therapeutic support, of course, but really just. You know, as we see, having this kind of network of support all about all over Miami, through churches, through the local church, through people who are already postured to serve, and so you know this whole idea that making foster care easy to step up. It's simple to serve, so it's not complicated, it's not something that's gonna take your whole life. But can you serve a family? Can you serve Pastor Joey's family in some capacity? Can you babysit for them a couple of nights a month and give their husband and wife a date night? You know? Could you pick up the kids from school? That's called respite. You know, could you tutor a child? Could you mentor a child?

Georgia:

There is a population of children and care that are teenagers, and something that breaks our hearts at Explore Foster Miami is the fact that not a lot of people want to foster them and there's not a lot of opportunities for mentorship. Citrus and Hope, heart and Home they are beginning this awesome program of mentorship and there are mentorship like big brother, big sister, like they're still wonderful community partners, but there is such a need, before that child ages out of the system, to really walk alongside them because they're not gonna receive, they're gonna be adults at 18 and they're gonna be receiving a stipend and supposed to figure out their lives. And there are a few wonderful organizations like Genesis, hope, hope Haven and Casa Valentina that do wrap around support and transitional living for these youth that age out of the system but their capacity is small and 300 age out per year.

Joey:

And so there's a Is that just here? It's just in Miami-Dade.

Georgia:

And so, if their capacity is, 26 kids, that's leaving a huge population, and we're wondering why their lives aren't turned around. Well, they haven't received the support as they're going, while they're as much support as we humanly need.

Georgia:

I mean, I'm thinking of my own life not being in the system like how much support I needed, how much really support I needed from fellow Christians. That really transformed my life and so if you have a heart to mentor a child and just walk alongside them, that can change the trajectory of their life for a couple of hours a month.

Joey:

Wow again so much that you covered that is so important, so important. You know, I wanna get you know maybe it's just me, here's the point real life examples. Right, I was in a everything's on Zoom now our hearings, our court hearings, and so I was kind of in line, you know, and hearing the case before, and you know, as I described the case to you, georgia, and even those listening, I think that it's gonna really make the point. This was a young man, I think 16 or 17. And apparently he had a again, I wanna be very sensitive.

Joey:

I think the an easy term would be drug issue before and he was doing better, but he was still smoking. And you know, in the court hearing, the judge, the therapist, said yeah, you know, we'd rather he not, but his grades are okay, it's okay, he's doing okay, he's acclimating, and you know to get into all the details and good, bad, yes, no, you know, pick your battles, you know, but he's getting good grades. I don't, I'm not trying to get into all that, I'm just saying what if there was a third voice?

Georgia:

a mentor.

Joey:

Hey, you know what I've had this experience. Hey, you know what? I'm not your therapist.

Joey:

I'm not your judge, I'm your friend, I'm your mentor. Let me tell you my experience, let me tell you what I've learned. Let me show you, let me tell you wow, really. And I wonder if that third voice in that young man's life would affect change that's needed. So so, even that you know, thinking about that, the same day I was in line for a long time on Zoom. The same day it was a 17 or 18 year old that was aging out and I don't think they still didn't have a social security number. They were forgetting all the vocabulary words immigrant.

Joey:

And so they couldn't work. They wanted to work, they knew they needed to work, but they couldn't work. There was a communication issue somewhere where he was supposed to have his work permit and then he's made a comment something like oh yeah, I wanna move out or I wanna be on my own. And the judge saying you literally can't, like, we have to keep you in care past 18 because you have no work, you have no money, you can't just leave. And two cases right there that it's like, wow, you know, think of the support that these two young boys I mean young men at this point needed, and Georgia, obviously.

Georgia:

Please let the people know this is two of a hundred, two of a thousand story after story after story like this, right, absolutely, and you know, sometimes we get really complicated in our head.

Georgia:

So, even when you think of mentorship, like what would it look like for you to take an hour or two out of a month and just walk alongside that young man and say, listen, god loves you and God has a great plan for your future it's not for disasters to give you a hope in a future, you know, and to really speak life into him. And you know there is, there are there's a few teens that I help mentor and you know it's really about speaking life into them and giving them hope, and giving also the foster parents like hope as well, because they're kind of in the trenches in this situation, right, and saying like, yes, you know he or she might be having issues in this, but look at the change that's happening here because of you know, all of the wonderful things that the church community is doing to support this child. And so you know one fantastic example and it's not about, you know, proselytizing or you know, it's really about walking in love which is what Jesus did right, and so one example is a young teen got baptized.

Georgia:

She gave her life to Jesus, but it wasn't because she was, you know, being the Bible coming down her throat every day. It was just the community walking in love, and she was like I am a child of God. This is real, and this is real you know, and gosh, I don't know how many years that she will, you know, not have to walk not knowing her identity in Christ. Like what a beautiful testimony.

Joey:

Yeah, georgia, I told you the time would fly by.

Georgia:

Oh my gosh, are we almost done? We're at 21 minutes.

Joey:

We've been talking for 21 minutes, so if you're listening, you've been, I hope, benefiting from this conversation. Georgia and I can talk anytime.

Tiffany:

We had a wonderful Zoom meeting the other time.

Joey:

So I hope that you've been benefiting. I hope that you've heard things, maybe new information, maybe you're being challenged. You know Jesus calls us to do difficult things. Just think of personally. He says take up your cross and follow me. He says deny your flesh. Jesus raises the standards and then and he raises standards and then he brings us up to meet them. You know, he fills us with the Holy Spirit. This is turning into a Bible teaching.

Georgia:

Let's get back to.

Tiffany:

Georgia.

Joey:

The point is that, yes, it could be scary, it could sound difficult, but Georgia, and well mainly Georgia, serving Explorer Foster Miami, is there to make it not so difficult, to help you realize it's not that difficult. So, georgia, now we get to, let's get some website information. Let's get people actionable information, because somebody's listening I believe at least someone is listening, that they're thinking Tell me what to do already.

Georgia:

Yes, Well, OK, so our website is explore foster miamicom, so feel free to go on there, look around. Our engagement report is on there. We have some you know facts on there to demystify the system, but I would recommend going to get the get involved tab, filling out an information card. That's going to go directly to us, and the majority of my day is literally talking to people and connecting them to the right organization or church partner in particular. So maybe your church hasn't yet started and doesn't have a foster care ministry, but we have other churches that have that need help. Or maybe you are sitting there and you're like I would love to be that champion in my church. You know there are just so many ways to step up and we can have a conversation and see where God leads you next.

Joey:

Awesome. Yeah, I personally got licensed at Christ Fellowship. I took classes there on Saturdays because that's all I knew at the time, right that's. I don't know if it was all that was available, but when I look, that's all I found and that's OK. I'm sure there's. There's more now, but yeah, so something like that. And you know, just to drive the point home, it could be anywhere from someone listening. I want to be a foster parent.

Tiffany:

They fill out that card.

Joey:

You help them through that it could be somebody that heard about mentorship, you know we really harped on mentorship and they might be thinking, OK, I think maybe I want to think about trying.

Georgia:

Yes, they should fill out the card. They should fill out the card.

Joey:

Great, any closing thoughts. And we have a few minutes. We have several minutes here, maybe five minutes. Any other topic, any, any other thoughts you wanted to kind of discuss or share with us here in the last few minutes, george, anything that comes to mind.

Georgia:

Well, I think, just you know, knowing that you know we're here to be that, that branch of support for the community. You know our goal, our vision, is to bridge together, break down those silos of people kind of doing wonderful work but doing it separately. And so we really want to be that, that neutral ground where, where we see his kingdom come together and in support and you know, and even if you're not a Christian, like it's not just about like only Christians like this is about like God's people, and you're one of them If you're in this city, you are part of God's people. And how can we lead you to the right way to support a child or family.

Georgia:

And just realizing that it is so simple. You know, there's a book, a famous book, called Everybody Can Do Something, and it's just so true that is what I've learned from the beginning that the more I've learned about the system, the more I realize how simple it is to step up.

Joey:

Wow, you know I love that you address people that wouldn't profess or claim to be Christians, because we have people that listen, that don't subscribe to Christianity, that don't affiliate with a particular church. If you're listening, we care for you, we love you.

Joey:

I address you all the time you know, in my crazy ways and all the silly things I come up with, but we have people that listen from all walks of life. So, absolutely, if you're listening and you want to help, if you have that desire, go for it. It's a good thing. Don't deny that, don't suppress that. Georgia, you know. You know. There's so many ways we could go again. Just a few minutes, going back a little bit here, the you know. I think the first thing that everyone can do and here's a challenge, everyone that hears this we can start to pray specifically.

Georgia:

Absolutely.

Joey:

We can start to pray intentionally. We can start to pray regularly, so you might have specific prayer requests, if not. I thought we could hear more about that group of teenagers because the more I've been learning, the more I've been learning about their need, that there's such a needy group. I don't know if they're listening. That sounds bad, but but you know what I mean.

Georgia:

Yes, it's something that is a smaller part of our initiative, called in the margins, and so this is a population of children in care that are in literally in the margins.

Georgia:

You know, and and there is a misrepresentation that they are too messed up. They're labeled, as you know, troubled and misfits and all of these things, and I can just tell you that firsthand, they are the most delightful human beings Like I've met. You know, talk about, you know, unfortunately, the maturity that they've had to go through rather quickly compared to other children. But really, you know, teens I say this all the time they are just such a marvelous population that God sees that God calls us to care for the orphans and the widows and I don't even like to use that name, orphans because they're really children of God but but that the community, especially in Miami, we really we need to wrap around these teenagers. They're going to be our next, you know, doctors and attorneys and teachers and firefighters and neighbors, and so if we don't invest in them as a community, then what do we expect when their lives are in havoc, you know, and they age out of the system?

Joey:

Yeah, and just to drive that point home, we're not talking about 10, 20, 30 years from.

Tiffany:

that's a couple years away that they're going to be renting the apartment next to you and applying for jobs.

Georgia:

Literally.

Joey:

And we want to set them up for success. So, thank you. So you know, I know I personally I want to pray more for teenagers and care. Again, I don't see them. Both of my placements have been babies and, and so I definitely want to pray more for them. Um, something else that you mentioned and it's slipping from me, oh boy, yes, you actually didn't mention it. Um, you may have something to say, you may not, you may have a reference, but here's what I want to ask about. What breaks my heart is when I hear stories about foster parents and I don't know the right term, but requesting removal or getting kids moved.

Joey:

They're overwhelmed and you've addressed that. You said we need support. You said they need help. Maybe you want to speak directly to those foster parents. Maybe you want to speak to the support people that God is raising up right now for those foster parents but can you address that topic?

Georgia:

Yeah, absolutely so. You know, on average, foster parents Christian and regular, you know, secular foster parents burn out in nine months, wow, and that's just the average. Some much sooner. And that's just because they're, you know, they're inundated in the system that they don't really know about, they're not receiving, they're not aware of the support that's available to and they're not receiving it, and so they're just too overwhelmed, they're too burned out and they just say I can't take this placement in anymore, I don't understand what's going on with this child and has a lot of trauma, which might just be, you know, misappropriated behavior. That can be better helped in counseling for example you know.

Georgia:

So, really, speaking to those people out there who can serve foster parents, there is a huge need. We need to wrap around these wonderful human beings like Pastor Joey and his wife, who have stepped out, who you know already are raising children on their own but have decided to take in someone else's. It's a huge calling and it's a it's not an easy calling, and so I think we, as the people of God and just people in our community, in our city, we can do something, we can help in some way. We have an hour, we have two hours out of our month where we can serve, bring a meal. What about bringing a meal on a Friday night, you know? So they don't have to cook, like when I say there are and I know I've spoken to you about this before there are just so many small ways, just small tokens of generosity that we can support these families where they think you know what? I can go one more day. I can get through this.

Joey:

You know, thank you so much for speaking to that. I actually forgot and just remembered, with our current placement foster son, the case manager came to do a visit and she brought clothes, yes, and I said, oh, where are these clothes coming from? She said somebody at our office asked if a baby needed clothes and we said yes, and they went to Target and 30 minutes later came back with some clothes. I mean, that's simple, you know, and and and again, think about it. We could afford it, by God's grace, we could go, but we just didn't At that moment.

Georgia:

he literally had no clothes.

Joey:

He came home from the hospital and that happens because we, because, again, as a foster parent, you, you're not nesting, you're not waiting for this new baby, you know you.

Joey:

Oh, there's a baby here. I have no baby clothes, you know so. So it's an amazing thing. So, again, that person that they have just a little extra money, you know, god has blessed them. Maybe it's not Target, maybe they could go to Walmart and get a couple onesies, you know. So, on and on and on. Georgia's been an incredible time. I told you what fly by it really did.

Joey:

I told you what so so we'll see what God has for us. There's so much more that we can talk about. Perhaps we'll have you back. Explore foster Miamicom. Yes, explore foster Miamicom Whether you're ready to be a foster parent, whether you're ready to meet a need, however small. It's actually bigger than you think, and so please visit, explore foster Miamicom and again, georgia, thank you.

Georgia:

Thank you so much, pastor Joey, thank you for all you do, thank you.