A little over four years ago at a Serve the City Event with Midtown Fellowship in Columbia, Mollie learned about
Epworth Children’s Home and the need for kind and consistent volunteers. Feeling called to action, Mollie and her Lifegroup connected with Beth Robinson, Epworth’s Volunteer Coordinator, and became Cottage Partners with Anderson Cottage, which is primarily high school girls.
Mollie quickly learned that when you are volunteering with high school girls, you do not need to have all the answers, or the very best advice, or the funniest jokes. You just need to be willing to meet them where they are and love them through it. This experience and these relationships made such an impact on Mollie that she soon realized that perhaps it was more than a volunteer opportunity but rather a sign for her future. Mollie is now preparing to become a licensed Foster Parent through Epworth!
After having foster care on her heart for several years and feeling the calling of “why wait?”, Mollie knew that her first call would be to connect with Epworth and start the process of becoming a licensed foster parent. A large part of why Mollie feels like she is ready to take on this role now is because of support from her community. Her boss also decided to become a licensed foster parent through Epworth, and they have been walking through this process together. Her next-door neighbor is a pediatrician, so she already has healthcare lined up. On her street are eight of her best friends, willing to pop over at a moment’s notice to babysit, bring a meal, go on a walk or just be an extra set of hands. She has a church community with other foster parents who are open and willing to share any advice or baby clothes. She has Epworth’s support network of resource closets, churches, foster parent support groups and
supportive staff.
She may be a single foster mom, but she certainly is not on this journey alone. If you are being called to learn more about foster care whether you are a single person or part of a couple, Mollie has a few reminders for you.
The need is greater than the fear of change.
You can do hard things.
Trust the Lord.
Mollie will continue serving as a cottage partner with the Anderson girls, and she is hopeful that her relationship with those girls will help her be a better foster parent and hopeful that being a foster parent will help her be a better mentor to the girls. At the end of the day, her message for her cottage girls and for her future foster children is simple – I am in this with you and I am not going anywhere.
Mollie’s story reminds us all that no matter what your current life stage is like, you can serve the vulnerable children of South Carolina. You can be a foster parent, a helpful neighbor, a supporting manager, a servant-hearted church member, a committed babysitter, or just a listening ear.
You can do hard things.
