Sunshine

ANNUAL REPORT
MCH: AT A GLANCE
Community Services
MCH has outreach and satellite offices in
Abilene, Bedford, Corpus Christi, Crockett,
Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Lubbock,
San Antonio, Sulphur Springs, Tyler and
Waco. MCH also has an outreach office in
Albuquerque, NM, and serves youth through
a foster care group home in Jayton.
MCH is licensed by the
Texas Department of
Family and Protective
Services to provide foster
care in Texas, and accredited
by the Council
on Accreditation.
Foster care at MCH is unique because many
children are voluntarily placed by their parents
or legal guardians who then retain full
legal custody of their children.
MCH foster care is designed to provide a
temporary living arrangement — typically six
to 18 months — until the parents are able to
resume parenting.
Each outreach office provides a variety of
community services, such as Partnership in
Parenting (PIP). The goal of PIP is to work
with families in an effort to prevent out-of
home placement of children.
Staff in the outreach offices network with
other local provider agencies to identify
family needs and provide tangible services to
help families become self-sustaining.
Children served through community services
range from birth to 18 years of age.
Service
SHOW COMPASSION THROUGH GENEROSITY AND CARE.
A passion to serve
A recent graduate of Texas A&M University, Heather is every bit the Aggie. She even self
describes as “bleeding” maroon and white. During her time at A&M, Heather took part
in a tradition called Aggie Muster, a time when Aggies across the world come together
to celebrate their university and remember their fellow Aggies.
“It is an awesome tradition and it reminds me why I love my university,” Heather
said. “But it is definitely not the first time I have felt a part of something significantly
bigger than me.”
Events like Aggie Muster remind Heather of the exhilarating feeling of serving
and being a part of the larger Methodist Children’s Home community. It was her time
at MCH that helped Heather see the importance of serving and celebrating her community.
Since graduating from the Home in 2005 and transitioning to life at Texas
A&M, Heather has consistently chosen to define her life by her service to others.
Serving as a volunteer at Family Promise, a College Station outreach to the homeless,
has allowed Heather to come to terms with her own past and find healing.
“As a pre-teen I was homeless for over a year,” Heather said. “I’ve been able to use
that experience to minister to the young families at Family Promise. I was blessed that
my family found Methodist Children’s Home. Not only did the Home give me hope for a
new life, but it also gave me a passion to use that life for serving others.”
Heather will spend the next year traveling the world with a Christian missions
organization. She will visit Romania, Ireland, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Uganda, Kenya,
Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. She plans to use this year as a springboard into a
life dedicated to serving Christ.
“I think the biggest thing I learned at the Home was the idea of meeting basic living
needs in order to begin meeting spiritual needs,” Heather said. “Methodist Children’s
Home did that for me — now I want to do it for others.”
“We’re going out into the
community to meet the kids
where they are. They need to
know that there are people
who care about them.
Heather Reed, a May 2009 graduate of Texas A&M University, will soon depart on a yearlong
mission trip. She believes her time at Methodist Children’s Home helped her develop
”
a passion for serving others.
JAMES BERRY
MCH Education/Recreation Program, Crockett, TX
Sunshine I Summer 2009 7