Pillar 05
Spiritual Development
Faith
Research statistics confirm that children within the foster care system are at greatest risk for continuing the cycle of abuse and failing to develop into productive adults with fulfilling lives.
By encouraging participation in community organizations, we help provide our children with long-term anchors in the community, ensuring they never find themselves alone or adrift – feeling abandoned and lost – when they encounter challenges in life.
Available Resources
Franklin County has numerous programs for young people to experience inclusion and develop healthy friendships with other youth - as well as people of all ages - in a safe environment.
Teaching-Parents are encouraged to take advantage of the healthy contacts and activities that are available to the children in our communities. Keeping youth in contact with their school, church, and any previously existing extracurricular activities, helps minimize the disruption inherent with placement in foster care and helps instill a sense of community while encouraging empathy and responsibility.
Role of Faith
Faith is important to our Board. While our personal faith systems played a significant role in our motivations for starting the Hope Ranch organization, we assign no specific doctrine or denomination to the program.
Instead, we created a blueprint for developing responsible, ethical behavior. One based on the belief that each of us is unique, important, and worthy of love, and that we are all guided by an innate moral compass that obligates us to treat others, as we want (or hope) to be treated – with love, respect, kindness and grace. Regardless of belief systems, these moral precepts are timeless. They are common among all people.
While the roots of our efforts were – and continue to be – based in our Christian faith, our purpose is not to proselytize. Rather, we will encourage students to participate in spiritual education and will provide a variety of resources to assist their personal studies.
Voluntary Participation
The purpose of all faith-based activities is to stimulate thinking about:
The Basis of Choice
How to Choose a Moral Compass, and;
Building Strong Character
However, all spiritual activities are completely voluntary.