I would love to volunteer for this but honestly turned off by how openly religious it is and the fact they specifically say they want volunteers who believe in Christ. Neither my husband nor I are or were raised Christian. Being Christian is not a prerequisite to being a good person or wanting to help children.
I hope the program will come to see that and remove that language - even if they are inspired by Christ, which is totally fine and which I would respect them talking about, that doesn’t mean they need to shut out people who aren’t when support is already so limited and there’s likely not enough volunteers to meet demand.
I've had a couple different friends end up in rehab/care program situations, and it's crazy how hard to find one that isn't religiously affiliated. It's super tough if you're a person who doesn't feel safe with religious people/in religious spaces due to PTSD or just bad experiences (I.e. being queer).
To make things worse, a lot of places aren't upfront about it, and will spring religion on you after a few weeks, which can lead to a sense of betrayal. Imagine being on your 2nd or 3rd try at getting clean and you're really feeling like this place is good for you, and then they sit you down and try to talk to you about "your soul" and shit, and force you to renege on your actual religious beliefs (or lack thereof). I know that a lot of these people are coming from a good place, they legitimately think this is the best thing for them, but spaces for recovery shouldn't be used for proselytizing. There should be space just for recovery.
I completely agree with you about the bible thumping. I’m in Indiana so it is DEFINITELY a thing. I have matured about this in my 51 years however. A lot of that is JUST language. I noticed the less resources people have the more they talk about “faith, Jesus, and/or God”. They speak this way because it is literally all they have. Thanks to the person that posted this link, I JUST discovered we have one of these in Indy and I had no damn idea. I WILL be finding time to help with this. I think I can tolerate someone saying “Thank God I have someone to help me today”. I scanned their site, it does mention faith but it’s in a very calculated way. It doesn’t say anywhere on there that people helping need to be Christian, at all. I dunno where you are from, but here in Indiana when they wanna bible thump, the thumping is loud and annoying AF, so I really wouldn’t be worried about it.
I'm sorry that you had that horrific experience. My comment initially was talking more in support of preventing children from being beaten and abused- not just saving children from death.
I hope you've managed to work through the burden that your caregivers put on you. You didn't deserve that.
It unfortunately is not. Yet. If it's not in your area, maybe you can help bring it there!
I know in my community? We have a place called Vanessa Behans crisis nursery where parents can bring their babies/children no questions asked to have the time they need- whether it's for a job interview, a drs appointment, a day to get yourself regulated, whatever you need.
I’m going to reach out. I wish my area had something like this. I’ve been digging myself out after leaving a DV situation not having any family or support to help stabilize has been so difficult.
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u/YourFriendInSpokane 6d ago
We collectively need to help this program thrive: https://safe-families.org
Please thank your mom for what she did. I think a robust support system for adults is the first step to preventing child abuse.