Gina and Albert, a South Carolina couple in their mid-30s, invited Amelia, now 16, into their rural home in 2021.
“Amelia was my cousin’s child,” Gina said. “Her mom died when she was very young, and her grandmother cared for her as long as she could. When it became too much for the grandmother, we offered to keep Amelia temporarily until something else could be worked out. But Amelia liked living with us and we liked having her here, so we ended up asking her to stay. She’s doing great; she’s a good kid.”
Amelia’s grades were all Fs when she arrived at the couple’s home, mainly because she had not been attending school regularly. Now she’s making the honor roll. Gina and Albert express pride in her accomplishments and have since been granted legal custody of the teen. When Amelia graduates next year, she plans to attend cosmetology school, and once she has saved some money, she hopes to attend college to become a social worker.
“Kinship care has always been a labor of love,” said Erinne Rodgers, Senior Director of Growth and Program Development, at Epworth. “It is family helping family by standing in for parents who cannot care for their own children for any number of reasons. Kin caregivers say yes to caring for their relatives without prior notice and oftentimes without additional support.”
Rodgers oversees Epworth’s newly launched Kinship Navigator program, which supports and locates resources for kinship caregivers in the Midlands and Pee Dee regions of the state. Epworth was one of three charities awarded a grant by the S.C. Department of Social Services to establish a Kinship Navigator program. Two other grant recipients launched similar services for kinship caregivers in the Lowcountry and Upstate.
These services are greatly needed. Many kinship caregivers are grandparents living on fixed incomes and dealing with health issues. The term kinship caregiver can refer to a relative by blood, marriage or adoption who is not the child’s parent. It can also refer to a family friend, neighbor, a teacher, a pastor – the law classifies them as “fictive kin” – a non-relative who takes in a child when the child’s parents cannot meet a child’s basic needs for food, shelter, education, healthcare, or safety.
Gina and Albert fall into the first category. They were among the first kinship caregivers to contact Epworth’s Kinship Navigator staff when the office opened in August of 2024. Although they are still raising 16-year-old Amelia, they
had just stepped up to the plate for three additional children from their extended family – a 5-month-old, 4-year-old and 7-year-old. Even though their finances were very tight on their $40,000-a-year household budget, Gina and Albert were determined to find a way to care for the three children. They needed whatever help they could find. They needed clothing,
equipment and supplies for the children. They also needed to modify their home from a duplex to a single-family home and add make other improvements to accommodate the children. Albert was able to do the construction work himself.
When Gina first met with Epworth Kinship Navigator Family Advocate Allison Clapp, Allison gave her information on applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a federal program. Kinship families often may qualify for TANF assistance to help with expenses for the children in their care. Gina’s TANF application was approved, and the family now receives just
under $400 a month. In addition, Gina shopped for clothing for the three children in Epworth’s Katrina’s Kloset, which is stocked with clothing and shoes, baby and child equipment, hygiene products, and much more. Kinship caregivers enrolled in Epworth’s program can select any items they need from the shop and as often as they need them at no cost. The new and very lightly used items are either donated or purchased by generous Epworth supporters.
“Epworth’s Kinship Navigation program exists to stand up for caregivers who are standing in the gap,” Rodgers said. “Our program is young, but we are learning quickly from our caregivers about what their needs are and what affects them the most. Sometimes this is help with navigating systems, connecting to community partners, or providing tangible emergency resources like a child’s bed. All the time it is about lending an ear and offering some emotional support to caregivers whose
life drastically changed when they said “yes” to taking a child.”
Epworth’s program can guide kinship caregivers through a formal kinship foster care licensing application process if they qualify and want to go that route. But the program also helps kinship caregivers who either do not qualify for licensing
or decide not to go through the process.
Gina and Albert are thankful for the Epworth
program.
“Allison and Epworth have been so helpful,” Gina said. “Allison either helps me get what the children need, or she points me in the direction to get help.”
Gina is also deeply grateful to have the children safe in her care. She suffered five miscarriages in years past, and for her and Albert, the four children are a cherished gift. She is certain that taking the children in was the right thing to do.
Should the children’s parents decide to relinquish custody of the siblings, Gina and Albert have already decided they will apply to adopt them.
The couple, and other kinship caregivers seeking Epworth’s help are daily sources of inspiration for Epworth staff members.
“Working with Gina has been a great experience,” Allison Clapp said. “As I listened to her story, her courage and love for the children in her care was so evident. It is a blessing for us to be able to assist Gina in meeting her needs so that she and her family can thrive.
