OUR MOUNTAIN WORK
National Foster Care Month
The Church’s Role in Child Welfare
During May Foster Care Awareness Month, we want to recognize the families who open their homes and hearts to children who need stability, love, and hope. We are also grateful for the individuals and churches who come alongside them with encouragement, meals, and practical support. Your faithfulness makes a difference in the lives of children and families and is one of the only solutions to the growing child welfare crisis in our communities.
As Christians, we are called to more than sympathy for those in need. Jesus’ greatest commandment calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves. This includes actively caring for vulnerable children. James 1:27 tells us that true religion is “to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” While some of the children we serve are true orphans and others have been abandoned, many are in care due to poverty, addiction, and abuse.
While heartbreaking, none of their circumstances are beyond the reach of God. He is still at work in the broken places, revealing His love through the faithfulness of His people. In response to the crises impacting children and families in our communities, God’s people must step forward and join in His work of healing, restoration, and hope.
Caring for children through the lens of the Gospel means understanding that no life is too broken for God’s redeeming power. It means stepping into real needs by:
• standing in the gap for families and walking beside them as they work toward healing.
• opening our hearts and homes to children in need of security and love.
• surrounding foster families with prayer, encouragement, meals, and other practical support.
Child welfare agencies play an important role in our communities, but they cannot carry this burden alone. Children need more than a system. They need compassionate and open-hearted people. They need families, churches, and communities willing to walk alongside them. Some are called to foster. Others are called to support those who do. None of us are called to turn our backs on children in need.
We are deeply grateful for friends like you, who faithfully love and support our children. Your generosity has sustained our ministry through many seasons. Because of you, children continue to experience security, joy, belonging, and hope.
This spring, we are also celebrating six graduates. Each graduate is a reminder of what can happen when a child is surrounded by steady, Christ-centered love and support.
As we look ahead, the question before the Church is not whether brokenness exists. The question is whether we will step fully into our calling to be Christ’s hands and feet for children and families who need us.
With true appreciation,
James O. Harmon
Living Out God’s Call to Care
GLORIFYING GOD BY CARING FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES SINCE 1904
Foster Children: The Crisis at Our Door
Western North Carolina is known for having neighbors who help one another. The compassion that created that reputation is now urgently needed to help ease the crisis in foster care. Across our region, there are far more children in care than there are families and group homes to care for them. As Christians, we cannot dismiss this as a government problem or a failure in the child welfare system. For the Church, it is an opportunity to care for orphans and families in need.
North Carolina has almost 11,000 children in foster care but only about 5,400 licensed foster homes. Too often, children spend the night in DSS offices because no home is open to them. In one Western North Carolina county, more than half of children in foster care are sent outside the county, often out of state. These are not just statistics. They are vulnerable children who need safe homes, open hearts, and caring churches.
Compassion alone will not change the story. Children need families that will open their hearts and homes to them, and those families need churches to support them. North Carolina has roughly 11,000 congregations. If each church raised up a foster family and surrounded that family with encouragement and support, the trauma being experienced by our children would begin to transition into hope.
Fostering is not an easy calling. Families who open their homes are significantly more successful when they are surrounded by a church that helps with meals, rides, childcare, prayer, and encouragement. The Church does not have to solve the entire child welfare crisis overnight. But as the Church, we must respond to this opportunity to live out our faith.
• Pray for one or more families in your congregation to answer the call to foster.
• Build a care team around them. Encourage them when the days are hard. Help carry the ordinary burdens to make their calling sustainable.
Not everyone can foster. But every church has a part to play. One family, supported by their church, means one less child sleeping on a cot in an office. It is one more home where a frightened child is welcomed by a caring adult who says, “You are safe here. We care about you.”
The foster care crisis is best understood as a child at the door, waiting for someone to open their home and heart.
The Church, Called To Care For Children In Need
Some are called to foster.
Others are called to walk alongside. All are called to care.
People often say it takes a village to raise a child. But when it comes to loving and caring for children in need, it takes something even deeper. It takes the Church.
Many families who foster are Christians who believe Scripture calls God’s people to care for vulnerable children. Not because it’s easy, but because they believe God works through ordinary people who trust Him.
As families step forward in faith to open their homes to children in need, their church plays an important role. Galatians 6:2 reminds us to “carry one another’s burdens.” And this matters. When the Church surrounds foster families with steady, faithful support, fostering is far more sustainable. Is your church supporting foster families, or do you sense God leading you to begin? We would love to hear your story. If not, and you’re unsure where to start, we can help. Reach out to learn how your church can help care for children.
Partnering in Ministry to Support Children, Youth, and Families
After 1,081 days in foster care, Miracle was adopted by her foster mom, Pam Morrow from Rutherford County.
At the heart of our work is the calling of glorifying God by caring for children, youth, and families. It’s not a mission we fulfill alone. Faithful ministry partners play a vital role in providing for the children and families we serve.
Pam Morrow attends Grace Missionary Methodist Church. She fostered Miracle for three years before adopting her this spring. Pam shared, “I don’t know what I would have done without my church family. They love her, and their prayers and support have sustained us during this journey.”
Raise Awareness and Encourage Families to Foster: Help your congregation understand the need for foster families and the role the church plays in supporting them. Families are far more likely to open their hearts and homes when they feel supported. Share information, invite conversation, and make it clear that fostering is a commitment that the church steps into with the families.
Create Small Groups or a Ministry Team to Support Families Who Foster in Practical Ways: Provide meals, mow the lawn, help with transportation, and assist with childcare to meet everyday needs.
Show Up: Attend school events, games, or important moments in a child’s life. Your presence shows love for both the child and the family.
Prayer and Encouragement: Send a note, a text, and take time to listen. Encouragement helps families keep going when the road feels long.
Respite Care: Offer safe, trusted care for short periods so foster parents can rest, recharge, and sustain the calling they’ve stepped into.
If your church would like more information, please email info@BlackMountainHome.org. Together, we can continue caring for children in a way that honors God.
Learn More about Foster Care
You don’t need to be perfect to make a difference—just willing to open your heart and home to a child in need. Convenient information sessions are offered monthly to help you learn more about being a foster family. To register, visit BlackMountainHome.org/FosterCare.
Scan here to learn more about opening your heart and home to a child in need.
Churches & Faith Communities
Churches have a vital role in caring for vulnerable children and supporting the families who welcome them. If your congregation would like to learn more about the needs in your community, please contact our Development and Community Relations team at (828) 686-3451.
We would welcome the opportunity to help explore where foster care best fits within your ministries, such as Family Ministry, Care Team, Pastoral Care, Benevolence, Outreach Missions, or other.
Build a shared culture of care.
• Welcome, honor, and integrate families with foster children into your congregation and programs.
• Encourage more families to foster by surrounding them with support.
• Create a roster of trusted helpers for meals, rides, childcare, encouragement, and trauma-informed support.
• Prevent burnout by sharing responsibility across the church family.
Financial Donations
Financial donations can be made by check or online at: BlackMountainHome.org/donate
In-Kind Donations
In-Kind donations can be delivered to our office or ordered online and shipped to:
Donations at Black Mountain Home
80 Lake Eden Road
Black Mountain, NC 28711
See our Needs List by scanning the QR Code or visiting www.amazon.com/registries/gl/ owner-view/16D0WO86O9J78
To receive our prayer calendar, email prayer@BlackMountainHome.org
Find Your Purpose
Join us for a campus tour to learn more about our ministry and our volunteer opportunities.
Please email Volunteer@BlackMountainHome.org for more information or scan the QRC to register for the date of your choice.
Volunteers are needed in our:
• Mountain Home Thrift Store
• Administrative Offices
• Grounds & Maintenance Department
• Farm & Garden Program
• Education & Recreation Departments
80 Lake Eden Road
Black Mountain, NC 28711
BlackMountainHome.org 828.686.3451
Congratulations to Tyler Real, 2026 Recipient of the Tom Alexander Memorial Scholarship
Tyler Real has the warm heart and steady presence of an old soul. Although early childhood brought instability and loss, he credits the stable, caring environment of Black Mountain Home for changing his trajectory.
Tyler came to live at Black Mountain Home when he was 12 years old. His first year was filled with learning new people and building trust. In high school, his leadership quickly stood out: he moved into advanced classes, was elected President of the BMH Youth Leadership Team, and is on track to graduate this spring with a 3.8 GPA.
While attending classes in the morning and working afternoons at a local conference center, he has also met the requirements for our vehicle program and will receive a car on his birthday in July.
Tyler’s goal is to earn a bachelor’s degree from Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, with a focus on food innovation and technology. He plans to live on campus while maintaining his primary home at the BMH Ray Campbell Independent Living Village.
When asked what Black Mountain Home has meant to him, Tyler named President Jimmy Harmon and Recreation Director Dan Windmiller as father figures. “Black Mountain Home is not just a place, it’s an idea. It’s support and love. It’s an opportunity for kids to have a future. It’s truly a home.” He added, “You could search the world over and not find a better place for kids to be. I love this place.”
Tyler’s success is a reminder of what can happen when youth have safety, structure, and adults who believe in them. Because of your support, at-promise youth can heal, grow, and prepare for a successful future.
Thank you to our ministry partners for supporting the children entrusted to our care.
Hope for Children Dinner
Thank you to everyone who helped make the 2026 Hope for Children Dinner such a meaningful evening. We are especially grateful to the Alexander family for helping us honor the memory of Tom Alexander through the scholarship presented to Tyler Real. Thank you also to The Men in Harmony for sharing their music, and to every guest who attended, gave, sponsored, and encouraged the youth in our care.
This special evening was truly a team effort. Staff from across departments worked together to welcome guests, prepare the campus, and make the night possible. We are also grateful to our Culinary Arts Apprenticeship Coordinator, Suzi Gibbs, and her team for the wonderful meal they prepared and served with such care. Because of you, children and youth at Black Mountain Home continue to experience hope, encouragement, and the steady support to grow, heal, and thrive.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Hope Dinner, including special guests, Larry and Gail Meadows.
Brian Alexander with Tyler Real.
Please join us for this free, family-friendly event to celebrate community and resilience and support the children entrusted to our care.
You Can Help!
If you have a car you are eager to show off, bales of hay you can spare, or would like to donate items for our silent auction, please email: info@BlackMountainHome.org
October 10, 2026 Fall Festival & Open House
To become a sponsor, simply return this form with your gift to: BMH for Children, 80 Lake Eden Rd, Black Mountain, NC 28711 To make your sponsorship gift online, scan the QR Code or visit: BlackMountainHome.org/event/FallFestival.
80 Lake Eden Road Black Mountain, NC 28711 BlackMountainHome.org 828.686.3451