The word "home" means different things to different people. To some, the concept of "home" might mean family and fresh cooked meals. To others it could mean friends and fun. No matter what definition is used, many people cherish the thought of home.
For Elmore residents Steven and Stephanie Whyte, "home" means caring about and taking responsibility for distressed children who have no home of their own.
The Whytes, who are both Alabama licensed foster and adoptive parents, currently have 12 kids living in their home, which they call My Father's House Ranch. Three of the children are the Whyte's biological children, two have been adopted out of foster care, four are pending adoption, one is a current foster child, and two are previous foster children. The Whyte's ministry is appropriately known as A Place Called Home.
A Place Called Home is the Whyte's answer to the needs of foster children in the system that don't have solid, loving homes, and the couple says their response is to a passage in the Bible in the book of James.
"It's the job of the church to help widows and orphans," said Steven Whyte. "A Place Called Home meets a need for foster parents and adoptive parents."
According to Stephanie Whyte, there are 126,000 orphans in the U.S. in need of adoption. Many of the kids in foster homes go through multiple home environments and at times, serious abuse, before they get to a caring home. And sometimes, they never get to that caring, loving home, but are sent out of the system as an adult with nowhere to go and nothing to do.
"We want to be a voice for kids and a mentor for foster parents," said Stephanie Whyte. "As a ministry, we help people in need."
The Whytes, who have been married 13 years, began their journey into foster parenting about four years ago. After several years of turmoil -- including Stephanie's cancer, which she believes was healed miraculously by God -- the loss of work, and the fact that one of their daughters almost died, the couple started foster parenting classes.
"Three years ago, God woke me up and told me to adopt two children out of foster care," Stephanie Whyte said. "Within three weeks, two boys were here with us."
The Whytes continued to take in foster kids and then adopt them when they could. Because of the foster home horror stories they heard from some of the children, they felt that they needed to be a helping force for other foster and adoptive parents. A Place Called Home became that network.
The Whytes began to have a vision of more than one home on their property where foster parents and their kids could live. The vision for A Place Called Home, the couple says, is "to be a voice of truth that mobilizes the church; a place that monetarily, emotionally, and spiritually supports foster and adoptive families; and a network of fully-supported, individually licensed foster homes." The 503(c) ministry is a part of A.C.T. International, which is the mission board that oversees it.
"We are looking for Christian foster parents to be a light in the community," Steven Whyte commented. "It's a different model."
The Whytes have a philosophy that revolves around the love of children, which has been important in dealing with the issues that come with foster kids. Many children who have gone through the foster care system have been labeled as problem children and have been treated with medication.
"You give them Jesus, hope, and structure and the need for medication goes away," Stephanie Whyte said. "It's a huge job to raise someone else's child, but it's a blessing."
Steven Whyte is currently an I.T. consultant and a recently ordained pastor, but it takes a lot to support the Whyte's ministry efforts and according to Whyte, the couple doesn't have enough resources or people. The couple is finishing up construction on their house and looking at designs for other homes on their property. Some of the current needs include a 15-passenger van, a tractor, rail fencing, a playground, building materials and commercial appliances.
To offer assistance or resources to A Place Called Home, or to get information about the needs of foster kids, go online to www.apchm.org.