K-LOVE’s Positive People – by Rafael Sierra, Jr. (complete podcast available) (more Positive People stories)
Chaplain Gary Webb, Founder of OCJ Kids in Phoenix, Arizona, was concerned too many former foster kids they had been mentoring were dropping off the radar and getting into trouble. So, he began a unique program, giving free cell phones to these young people, to help them stay connected.
“We just want to do everything to help these kids succeed, not just give them resources but, primarily, it’s just about relationship. Relationship with us. Relationship with God. Relationship with the support community.”
“We found out that most of the kids as they age out weren’t calling us back. We were losing track of them.” Webb says he didn’t know if the kids were becoming homeless, if they were finding a place to live, or if they had found a job. But one thing he did know is, he needed to re-connect with these kids and make sure they got the help they needed.
“We assign them a phone mentor, so that that phone mentor is going to call them monthly just to check in. We’ve got a set amount of questions that we ask them, that find out how they’re doing emotionally, physically, psychologically, spiritually, financially, the whole gamut.”
Webb says statistics nationally are pretty bad. He says about 60 percent of the kids that age out of foster care become homeless or imprisoned within a year after foster care. He says providing them a cell phone and way to call for help curb this trend and help these kids get ahead.
“We just want to do everything to help these kids succeed,” says Webb. And connecting with a mentor who really cares, can help make all the difference.
