We all have passions and things we enjoy getting involved in, but some are not as noble as others. Junior, speech communications major, Bethany Long found a passion for helping others, specifically those in the adoption and foster care system. With roughly 5,000 children waiting to be adopted in Arkansas, there is an obvious need for adoption and foster care in our state’s system. Fortunately, through the work of passionate workers and volunteers, awareness and help has increased in recent years. According to the Children’s Welfare League of America, 743 children were legally adopted through a public child welfare agency in Arkansas in 2014, increasing 7.5% from 691 in 2013. Long, a Little Rock native, is part of this movement in the Arkansas adoption and foster care system, providing a great example of how students can play an active role in helping others, regardless of their financial status.
During her senior year of high school, Long was exposed to the reality of foster care after working in the child care area at her church. “There was a family who had recently started fostering and one night they brought a baby who they had just got. She was so scared…and so thrown off. She had probably just been in the DHS (Department of Human Services) office all day,” Long said.
The attachment formed with this child in just one meeting sparked a passion in Long to help others in similar situations. “I just fell in love with her. I got to meet her sister and got to hear more about their story and how they had come from an area of abuse,” Long said. Both sisters were adopted into the same family and Long now gets to visit her ‘nieces,’ as she calls them, every time she returns home.
Since that first meeting, Long has gained much more insight into the foster care system through her involvement with the non-profit, Project Zero. “I’ve realized how much more prevalent it is. There’s like 5,000 waiting kids in Arkansas alone.” Project Zero works with the goal of having zero children waiting to be adopted by connecting them with Christian families interested in adoption. The organization sets up events that Long referred to as “speed dates” between the families and the children waiting to be adopted. “They also do other fun things like getting prom dresses for some of the children…they are a support system for these kids,” Long said.
Long first heard about the organization through her home church, Fist Baptist Little Rock, which often partners with Project Zero to host many of the projects they run, such as a Back To School Bash and a Disney Extravaganza. The Back to School Bash is a chance for the children in the adoption and foster care program to come together, play games and collect school supplies that have been donated, and the Disney Extravaganza is a time of fun and games for the children, where they meet the characters of their dreams. “It is like bringing Disney World to them,” Long said. “I have dressed up as Jessie (from Toy Story)…it’s so fun to dress up and they are so excited to see you.” Both events are opportunities for potential families to mingle and spend time with the waiting children, setting them up for the adoption process.
Another way Long has gotten involved in helping the cause is “Walk for the Waiting.” This is a 5k race and a mile walk that people can partake in to raise money for the adoption and foster care system. The race is in Little Rock on May 6, 2017 and has an early start at 7:45 a.m. with the mile walk starting later at 9 a.m. Entrance into the event is based on donations.
Long says that she spoke to one of the event directors who was keen to have college students involved. “I know college students don’t have a lot of money, so they can just run and that would be awesome. If you can’t pay its okay, it’s awesome to have all the support,” Long said. Long has put a team together called Salt and Light, which she has invited Ouachita students to join. The event welcomes anyone who is interested in joining the cause. The money that is raised from the walk will go to three Little Rock organizations that assist children in the foster care and adoption system, including: Project Zero, The Call and Immerse.
This semester Long has been very active in bringing her passion to campus and making people more aware this issue. She realizes that many people have misconceptions about what helping the system can look like. “A lot of people think it’s all about donating money, but after being so closely involved for these past years, it’s so much bigger than that,” Long said. The support people can show goes beyond the material, and can be a part of a deeper emotional connection. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a money thing. You can show your support through giving them luggage or clothes, and just by loving them, because they don’t get that a lot,” she said.
Not only has Long learned more about adoption and foster care system, but she has also learned more about herself and her future. “I really wanted to be a missionary overseas for a long time, but I realized that there are problems here in my home town and even my neighbors, that need to be taken care of…It’s not always about going across the pond,” Long said.
If you would like to get involved in this worthy cause, or join in the Salt and Light team that is partaking in the ‘Walk for the Waiting,” or just want to hear more about Long’s passion contact Bethany long at lon58623@obu.edu. You can also go to www.walkforthewaiting.org to find out more about the Walk for the Waiting and www.theprojectzero.org for more information on Project Zero.
– By AJ Stambolie, student writer
