There was no shortage of energy or passion at the fifth annual Called to Care Foundation Charity Dinner & Auction Saturday evening in Yorkville.
The 321 guests who packed Whitetail Ridge Golf Club were more than pumped from the punchy, up-tempo music and the friendly competition of a live auction that helped set the mood for this event.
But they were also eager to support this nonprofit that was founded five short years ago, as well as its sister group, Selah Home for Kids, an emergency shelter on Bridge Street in Yorkville that opened its doors in July for children between foster placements.
Called to Care is a faith-based organization dedicated to filling gaps in the foster care system. And it was out of that mission the idea came for Selah Home, where children, who have been removed from their family situations for various reasons, can feel safe and loved in what has to be a truly scary time in their young lives.
While most of us can’t imagine this scenario, the founder of these two nonprofits has a good idea.
Shari Chapman does not want this story to be about her or husband Phil, a former educator and pastor with Village Bible Church in Sugar Grove. But it’s hard not to start with the couple from Newark, who have three biological children and eight adopted kids, six of whom came into their lives through the Department of Children and Family Services.
That experience, the former successful sales executive told me, caused “my eyes to fly wide open” to the gaps in the system that make it even tougher for these already vulnerable kids. And so, in 2021, Called to Care was created – mostly as a support and care group for foster families, and later expanded to provide much-needed therapy for these kids.
But things “just kept presenting themselves,” said Chapman, who believes “everyone wants to help vulnerable children but most people just aren’t sure how.” She was especially disturbed by how foster children could linger at police stations, agency offices and even in hospitals while awaiting placement.
And so, now armed with a master’s degree in social work, she threw out the idea of an emergency shelter at a fundraiser two years ago. And within six months, Selah Home opened its doors, thanks to a lease agreement with the city of Yorkville, which owns the house that had sat in disrepair for seven years, as well as an army of business, church and community members who turned out in droves, donating money, time and talents to the rehab effort.
Harvest Chapel in Sandwich alone sent well over 100 volunteers, Chapman told me. But it wasn’t just the work getting done. It was who showed up, including an 80-year-old man down on his knees scrubbing out a bathtub, or another older man, skilled in woodworking, who was in tears as he told her these efforts helped heal pain from his own childhood.
While Selah Home – it can take six children ages 7-18 for 30 to 60 days, longer if needed – has a staff and is funded through DCFS, volunteers continue to play a vital role, said Chapman, making it possible, for example, for the kids to have new clothes or to celebrate special moments such as graduations, birthdays and holidays.
The magic – many would say miracle – of this quickly-expanding grassroots movement has been obvious in the annual spring fundraisers which, “with zero marketing,” sell out each year, noted Chapman, adding that Saturday’s event did so in 35 minutes.
That enthusiasm was contagious throughout the evening, especially during a rambunctious live action, where guests competed for gifts ranging from exotic vacations to a huge backyard barbecue to a year’s worth of date nights. There was also a golden ticket raffle with the lucky winner getting a gold coin worth over $5,000 donated by Fox Valley Coins. And at the end of the evening, a new feature called “Fund a Need” gave the crowd a chance to give directly to camp experiences for the kids, where not much more than five minutes of paddle-raising brought in $25,000 alone.
One of the evening’s highlights, however, was hearing from a teen who came to Selah Home pregnant, scared, angry, defiant and who “did not believe in family or getting close to people,” she admitted, as both vulnerability and courage were on display in this video interview that filled a gigantic screen.
It was a lifetime of mistrust that led to her runaway attempt on that cold December day last year. Fortunately, she was found by Yorkville Police Officer Luke Swanson, who “could have cuffed me, pregnant or not and put me in the back of his (squad) car.” Instead, he had “sympathy in his heart,” she continued, admitting she would likely have ended up on the streets had it not been for this man’s kindness and patience.
“He saved my life,” she said, looking directly into the camera, and that is “the true definition of a hero.”
For his efforts, Swanson was given the Community Care Award and a prolonged standing ovation from the large crowd that left him teary-eyed. This officer, Chapman noted, is the epitome of what Called to Care and Selah Home stand for: To “plant water and grow” in ways that can’t be measured on a spreadsheet or a financial statement but in the day-to-day successes – like three eighth-graders twirling in their new dresses for a photo shoot with Selah staff before going to their school dance. Or a single mom, who had faithfully attended all those foster care meetings, hearing the “strike of a gavel” from a Kendall County judge that made her and two little girls “a forever family.”
“There have been so many challenges but so many beautiful moments,” Chapman said, giving credit for the swift growth of this foundation to God’s guiding hand and to a community who responded so generously.
“It is a testimony to the Lord,” she said, “that we are called to care.”
dcrosby@tribpuub.com
