@story MARLA CANTRELL
When Randy and Marquitta Keen found themselves facing an empty nest they wondered what the future held. The answer came when The CALL (Children of Arkansas Loved for a Lifetime) visited their church in Fort Smith last fall to encourage members to become foster parents. “We’ve always been involved in student ministries.” Randy said. ..”We’ve always loved being around kids. ..When our girls started college we felt like it was time to do something different. When The CALL showed up, we’d been praying about it, and we knew it was the right thing to do.”
The Keens signed up, went through a background check and then attended classes provided by The CALL, a volunteer organization developed four years ago that partners church members with foster children, and works in conjunction with state agencies. “Once we received our certificate, we were put on the list and we got a call within twenty-four hours,” Randy said. “They [DHS] called and said they had a boy and they’d like for us to take him. And they said the boy had siblings, and they wanted us to possibly take his brother. My first thought was that I wanted to get acclimated to the system before I took them both on but within four days we had the two kids and we’ve just taken on the third brother.”
The boys are eight, seven and four. They have a two-year-old brother who is in another location. The Keens would like to bring him into their home as well, although they’re aware that his foster family might have a hard time letting him go. “We know they’re very attached to him,” Marquitta said, “and we understand that. We’d just like to keep these brothers together if we can. ..Before we got them the middle boy was in a shelter, the oldest one was in a home in Clarksville and the younger one was in Texarkana.”
It’s hard for the Keens to imagine what it was like when the boys were first separated. “I think it must have been catastrophic,” Marquitta said. Randy squeezed Marquitta’s hand as he spoke. “Their world fell apart that day. It’s hard knowing that because these children did nothing to cause it. None of this is their fault. One day their life was one way and the next everything they’d known was completely gone.”
Randy described the seven-year-old, the first brother they took in, as the spitting image of the young boy in the movie, “Jerry McGuire.” “At first,” Randy said, “we were a little nervous. We didn’t know if we’d be dealing with kids with real behavior problems. But this little boy, he’d come and sit beside me as soon as I got home from work and he was so sweet and so good. They really tug at your heart.”
While some foster situations do end in adoptions, the Keens first desire is to support the boys’ mother. “Our goal and our prayer is that the mother meets the [state’s] requirements and to raise her kids the way she should. We know that in a year’s time, say, that would be difficult for us but we see this as a ministry, to help these kids while their mother gets things together. ..We hope that by her knowing that her kids are safe we can take some of the worry off of her.”
The CALL is working to help alleviate the problem of too few foster homes trying to fill the needs of too many kids. They see their work, just as the Keens do, as a ministry, to show these children and their parents that there are Christian folks who care about their situation and feel obligated to help. In Sebastian County alone, there are 566 children in foster care. Add Crawford, Scott, Franklin, Yell, and Johnson, and another twenty-six from Booneville and Paris, and the total reaches nearly 800, with only about 150 homes open to care for them.
And while the Keens feel they were particularly prepared for the challenge – he grew up with four brothers and her parents took in foster children while she was growing up – they know that not everyone who wants to help is capable of fostering. But there are things the community can do. “People can help gather clothes,” Marquitta said. “A lot of these kids come with nothing, with everything they have in a trash bag. They can help foster parents with transportation because many of these kids have so many doctors’ appointments, therapists, and other appointments. If a foster parent works, it’s hard to juggle it all. ..One lady made cakes for the kids’ birthdays. There’s always something that can be done.”
As for the Keens, they believe that even if they only have these boys for a short time they can show them what stability feels like. They keep them on a daily schedule with dinner at a certain time, and routines they follow every morning and evening. They’d like to continue to support the boys’ mother should the boys go back to her, and offer to babysit, take the family to church, and be there for moral support. “We want them to know how to love one another, care for each other and to get a feel for what a balanced family is like because we see them as part of our family. ..We want them to know unconditional love. ..We just want them to know that there’s security in that.”
To learn more about The CALL, you can either call 479.274.9505 or email inquiries to crawfordcounty@thecallinarkansas.org or sebastiancounty@thecallinarkansas.org