Hope for the Children

“In their eyes I truly see a cry for hope. That’s the one thing that I have seen missing and yearned for in the life of nearly every single child and their families. Can you imagine getting up every day and not having any idea what’s going to happen in your life that day? Not to know if you have any hope for any people who care about you, hope for a future, hope for some success in your life, hope that you’re not going to be abused or abandoned. Can you imagine living every day like that? You’ve got to be committed to bringing people hope, to ministering to them. You’ve got to. I can’t think of any better way to sum it up."
-Phil Kouns, COO, The Children's Village

Child Sponsorship Program

Christian City has a new focus on fundraising through their Child Sponsorship Program, where you can become a child sponsor for as little as $30 a month. This is an easy way to support The Children’s Village and is very simply done with a check, debit or credit card. This is quickly becoming the “bread and butter” of their fundraising efforts and is helping to bring in new donors who may not be able to give a “major” gift all at once. It helps them to plan strategically when they can count on regular monthly gifts. If you are able to give less than “a buck a day” on a monthly basis, would you please consider this option?

According to Heidi Becker, Christian City’s Director of Marketing and Development, the greatest need is for operational support. “The ongoing expense of caring for numerous children is astronomical in today’s economy. Each month we get a little further behind as donations dwindle and our costs go up. Meeting our day to day expenses of gas, electricity, food, transportation and other basics is a struggle. Over the years, the Fayette County community has been very generous to the children who live in our cottages. Many have become child sponsors over the past year which is a huge help!”

Heidi says, “ Each child has their own story. Each come from such unbelievably sad circumstances. They did not choose to be here. But, God has chosen Christian City to care for them..and in the past, our Fayette County friends have chosen to sacrificially help. Our prayer is that in these lean times, they will continue to help us so that we can continue to serve these kids in the best way possible.”

For more information on The Children’s Village at Christian City access www.christiancity.org or call 770-703-2636.

Education at The Children's Village

Quality education is top priority at the Children’s Village. As appropriate, the children attend SACS accredited Christian Schools where they are given the best education Christian City can afford. Tutors are hired for special needs children. A recent donation from Coweta-Fayette EMC purchased new computers and software for homework needs. Ballet lessons, baseball uniforms, summer camps are all provide for with donations from the community. Proceeds from Graceland Thrift Store help with some costs but it is not nearly enough to cover all the expenses.

To learn more about the children at The Children's Village or how to help out at Christian City, visit our website at www.christiancity.org

The Cottages at The Children's Village

The original cottages built back in the 1960’s needed to be updated and replaced so after years of planning and fundraising, a new Children’s Village was built and opened in August of 2008. With a steady flow of new child residents, the cottages are always bustling with activity. KaBoom! a nonprofit organization, and 150 volunteers built a playground for the kids. The goal is to build “Polly’s Garden” a quite place for reflection, honoring major contributors and children past and present. The garden will have vegetables, fruit and nut trees, pergolas and a “Bricks For Kids” walkway. A swimming pool, baseball field and other recreational facilities are still in the “dreaming” stages and will come as funding provides.

To learn more about the Children's Village at Christian City, visit our website at www.christiancity.org

Sarah's Story

Sarah’s father was in prison and her mother was unable to care for her. She was raised at Christian City and now is attending Goizueta School of Business at Emory with the hopes of being a lawyer. Sarah shared, “If it weren’t for Christian City, I don’t know where I would be. I came to Christian City at the end of my 6th grade…I was twelve. I had been living in an emergency shelter, I remember it all very well. I was very mean and I felt like everything bad that had happened in my life was all my fault. My house parents treated me as their own child from the first time we ever met. Even if I was hard to get along with, they still loved me. We had a great life and were very connected as a family. My house parents encouraged me in my school work and in extra activities. When I was struggling academically, they hired a tutor. They were always there to help me with my homework, and then later to help me apply for a good college. I am where I am today, because of the positive influence of my house parents and of Christian City.”

To learn more about The Children's Village at Christian City, please visit our website at www.christiancity.org

A Look Into The Children's Village...

The Children’s Village cares for children both by private placement and from the Department of Family and Children Services. With a focus on family, education and healing, Christian City is known and respected throughout the State of Georgia for providing a program of excellence. They minister to those who are dealing with life crisis, such as the death of a parent, divorce, or sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. The program’s family environment allows children from every background to have access to a traditional family unit and support systems to help mend their wounded spirits. For many, The Children’s Village will be the only home some children ever know.

The children live in cottages with full time house parents functioning as one big family including daily chores, homework, regular church attendance and traditional sit down meals. Dedicated house parents are an important component of why the Children’s Village has so many successes in turning broken-spirited, angry or sad children, into productive, successful, good hearted kids. Many of these children grow up to become happy, healthy adults who live in Fayette County serving the community as firefighters, school teachers, air line employees or in the legal field.

The Children's Village at Christian City, Mending Spirits, Healing Hearts

I bet you would be shocked to know that every second in the United States, a child is abused. And, that annually, there are over 100,000 abuse cases reported in Georgia alone. Many more children need a safe place to live, free from the threat of abuse in the night, or abandonment in the morning. In 1962, some dedicated Fayette County residents came together with other like minded members of Southwest Christian Church to build such a place, and called it Christian City.

The Children’s Village at Christian City has for the past 44 years, been “home” to over 1,000 abandoned, abused, and neglected children! Christian City is a nonprofit, nondenominational organization that provides these special children a safe haven in a loving, family centered, residential setting. They also provide foster care placement in well qualified homes in the community.

To learn more about Christian City and The Children's Village visit our website at http://www.christiancity.org