Nearly 400,000 children are in foster care on any given day
The foster care system is overwhelmed with more children entering the system than kinship caregivers, foster families, or group homes can adequately support.
- Risk of Being Unadopted – More than 20,000 youths in foster care “age out” every single year in the United States without reunification with their families or placement in a permanent adoptive home. Over 1,200 of these teens are in Texas.
- Risk of Being Homeless – Tragically, over 20% of the teens who “age out” of foster care become homeless immediately.
- Risk of Being Uneducated – Only 69% of foster youth transitioning out of foster care receive a high school diploma by age 21.
- Risk of Being Incarcerated – 36% of youth transitioning out of foster care were incarcerated by age 17.
- Risk of Being Abused – Without a loving home, at-risk youth have a higher likelihood of experiencing trauma, abuse, neglect, and hardships that have lasting consequences.
To become thriving adults, youth need love and support
Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. For Empower 7, that means to love our young neighbors that are in the foster care system — foster care teens and aged-out youth that are struggling to navigate young adulthood on their own.
These youth need:
- Stability — Safe, consistent, and nurturing environments and essential care for stability.
- Restoration — Trauma-informed counseling to overcome traumatic experiences and break generational cycles for complete restoration.
- Development — Life skills, essential knowledge, and career readiness for development into adulthood and a bright future.
- Connection — Healthy connection with friends, mentors, foster/adoptive families, and biological family members.
- Purpose — Guidance in discovering their God-given purpose and going after their dreams.
- Jesus — Personal relationship with Jesus to experience unconditional love and grace to carry with them throughout their lives.
Lighting their way to a brighter future
Together we empower our youth by
- Providing a safe place – Residential community on a ranch setting that provides a safe place to live.
- Offering strategic programs – Programs to positively address the physical, cognitive, moral, psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual aspects of youth development.
- Making Jesus known — Christ-centered environment to light their way to the unconditional love of Jesus
You can help support at-risk teens and foster youth in North Texas
We are on a journey to make a profound difference in the lives of vulnerable youth. Partner with us to be a light in their darkness. Every gift of prayer, treasure, and time is crucial to empowering those in need.
- Why – The statistics are staggering and Empower 7 feels called to help fill the gap to ensure that vulnerable youth have the resources and support needed to become thriving young adults.
- Who – Empower 7 serves at-risk youth, such as foster care teen boys that are on the verge of aging out of the system and becoming homeless.
- What – Empower 7 will provide a safe haven, lovingly referred to as “The Ranch,” for vulnerable youth to learn how to heal, grow, and successfully transition to adulthood.
- Where – The Empower 7 Ranch will be located on a multi-acre, serene property in the North Texas area.
Together We Are Lighting Their Way to a Brighter Future
Our vision is for all youth, regardless of their circumstance, to become thriving, purposeful adults who are driven to make the world a better place. Our top priority in empowering vulnerable youth is to build the Empower 7 Ranch: a Christ-centered residential community for at-risk youth who need a safe, serene place to call home.
