Empower Every Community Initiative Overview

Overview

This article casts the vision and provides the core resources and tools for CarePortal Field Team Leaders to understand and participate in this initiative.

Intended Audience

 

Included in This Article

• What is the Empower Every Community Initiative?
• Our 50 in 5 / "Crux Code" Plan
• Connecting Churches
• Church-Vetted Requests
• A Letter From Erika

What is the Empower Every Community Initiative?

In the United States, the most common reason children enter the foster care system is unintentional neglect due to poverty. And while Black children constitute 14% of our country's total population of children, they make up 23% of the total number of children in foster care. Such racial disproportionality adversely impacts more than 100,000 children each year, with more than 50,000 children entering foster care every year. 

The foster system is Ground Zero for systemic change in our nation, change that begins with our most vulnerable children. Eliminating racial disproportionality in the foster system by strengthening families, to dramatically decrease the flow of children into the foster system, is strategically important to more comprehensive systemic change, and is achievable. 

Child welfare needs 21st-century solutions. That’s where CarePortal comes in. CarePortal is a digital care-sharing platform that facilitates real-time local care connections for children and families in crisis. By making the existing CarePortal platform available to powerful, faithful churches in Black communities, these churches will be increasingly empowered to care for children and families in crisis in their own neighborhoods, in trusted, culturally relevant, relational ways.

Our 50 in 5 "Crux Code" Plan

Of the nearly 400,000 children currently in the U.S. foster care system, 50% of them are in just 5% of the counties, totaling 160 counties. These are predominantly communities of color. Our “50 in 5” plan is to:

• Expand into all 160 counties
• Identify the lowest-income zip codes with the highest risk of family breakdown

If 12 churches in each of these zip codes met one need a week, the number of kids in the foster care system could be reduced by thousands. Meeting these needs would effectively:

• Help facilitate family preservation by supporting vulnerable families prior to being discovered by child welfare
• Strengthen care by relatives (kinship care) to improve the experience of children already in the system
• Provide encouragement and tangible needs to families making positive advances toward family reunification, thereby reducing the time children are in care

In addition to empowering these local churches, we are committed to supporting our various network leaders as they facilitate cross-cultural conversations and trainings that aim to bring together the experiences and perspectives of the Whole Church in each community.

To view a list of all the 50 in 5 counties, click here.

50 in 5 "Crux Code" Map

Click the image above to open the 50 in 5 Map. Click and drag your cursor to highlight the section of the map you'd like to see detailed data for. 

• Zip codes highlighted in red represent communities where the median household income is greater than 150% of the Federal Poverty Level or the percentage of families in poverty is 25% or higher
• Zip codes with a black pin in them represent communities with Black Americans making up 40% or more of the population.

Connecting Churches

A Connecting Church is a key partner in the CarePortal network that serves as the relational point of care for families in need.

When a community member responds to a request by donating money, CarePortal automatically transfers those funds to the reloadable debit card of the Connecting Church that chooses to Take the Lead on the request.

CarePortal handles all the accounting and tracks the impact—so the Connecting Church can stay focused on what matters most: meeting needs and building meaningful relationships with the families they serve. 

Connecting Church Invitation:

Church-Vetted Requests

This CarePortal feature allows churches to enter requests on behalf of vulnerable children and families from their own congregation in CarePortal.

• Approved requests are distributed to the greater CarePortal network
• CarePortal automatically makes a connection so responders' resources flow to the Connecting Church that submitted the request

A letter from Erika

Dear Local CarePortal Network Leaders,

Churches situated in low-income Black communities are faithfully serving children and families in crisis, both within their congregations and surrounding neighborhoods, often with limited resources. CarePortal can be a powerful conduit that connects these churches with a wider network of community responders. When care stakeholders unite to care for children (and help keep them out of the foster system), that unity is infused with supernatural power.

CarePortal brings together individuals, local businesses, sports teams, entrepreneurs, and more to support churches serving families in crisis. This collective, inside-out approach creates real, lasting change in our communities and our nation.

With so much to offer, how do we invite and encourage urban churches to trust and use CarePortal?

We must first recognize the enormous value of community churches in the lowest-income zip codes. These churches are already doing the work, serving children and families sacrificially. We're not asking them to do the work of CarePortal, we're inviting them to use CarePortal to expand and support the work they’re already doing. When we begin with honor and recognition, doors open.

We must also address historical distrust directly. Many urban churches have long stood in the gap, supporting struggling parents, grandparents, and kinship caregivers with little outside help. Some have encountered suburban or well-resourced partners whose approach unintentionally came across as patronizing or savior-like. The unspoken message is often, “We have what you need, and you have little to offer.” That’s not a healthy power dynamic.

Instead, we must show genuine honor and appreciation for what these churches have already accomplished, with little money, but great faith. Faith is what moves God. In many low-income urban churches, we’ve seen God part seas, provide manna, and perform miracles. When we had nothing else, we held on to our faith. When we humble ourselves to see the faith of church leaders in hard places as their greatest asset, trust grows.

Another reason for skepticism: fear of being misunderstood. Church leaders want to protect families who are doing their best. They worry that outsiders may not grasp the challenges families face and might respond with judgment rather than compassion. If we take the time to understand poverty culture, rather than using middle- or upper-class standards to measure health and success, trust grows.

Additionally, many urban church leaders have watched wealthier churches build massive facilities and ministries while they themselves barely survive, all under the shared banner of “One Body in Christ.” The contrast creates tension. Many of those larger churches were funded by generational wealth—wealth rooted, in some cases, in the long shadow of slavery. The answer is not guilt, but honest, sustained relationship-building. As we walk in humility and unity, trust grows.

Can we change the sins of our forefathers? No. But we can acknowledge them and begin honest conversations about where we go from here, together.

Some may say slavery should no longer be discussed, but consider this: if you were given a 400-year head start in a race, and I only began running 70 years ago, with weights like redlining, unjust lending, restricted housing covenants, unequal education, and employment discrimination, could I ever really catch up? These systemic inequities still impact access and opportunity. Understanding this context helps build deeper trust and empathy as brothers and sisters in Christ.

So, how do we start fresh? By embracing the Three C’s: Commitment, Consistency, and Compassion.

• Commitment means listening, deeply and without a prepared rebuttal. It means seeing and appreciating leaders’ journeys, their sacrifices, and their quiet strength. Tune your spiritual ears to what the community is saying about its heroes. When you do, you’ll hear the footsteps of giants.
• Consistency builds trust over time. Many begin well, but fade. Keep showing up. Don’t disappear. Even a silent presence, without the perfect words, can speak volumes.
• Compassion means stepping into someone else's world. You may not have caused the pain, but you may have benefited from it. Remember: from different seats at the same table, a “6” might look like a “9.” Neither perspective is wrong, but both are incomplete without the other. True empathy comes when we switch seats and seek to understand. Ask the Father to show you His heart. When we see through His eyes, we don’t just spot people’s strengths; We see their weaknesses too, and we’re moved to cover them in love.

A few practical tips for engaging Black church leaders:

• Many are bi-vocational. They may not be free for midday meetings. Be flexible. Evenings or Sunday mornings after service may be your best opportunity.
• Host community meetings in central locations. Meetings in suburban areas often miss the urban church audience you hope to reach.
• And finally, check your posture. Use the mirror of God’s Word to examine your heart, your motives, and your tone. When you conform to His image, you’ll naturally walk in His ways, and you’ll connect in ways that build trust.

As you step into this sacred work of relationship-building, I’m honored to be a sounding board for your questions and thoughts. Please don’t hesitate to reach out: [e-mail].

With grace and truth,
Erika Glenn

Crux Code Strategist