James Samaritan

08/29/2026

Each month throughout the school year, we will be connecting our NCS families with a local nonprofit making a meaningful difference in our community. Through these monthly community partnerships, we hope to introduce our students and families to tangible ways they can serve others, meet real needs, and put their faith into action as the hands and feet of Jesus.🙏🏻

We’ve been honored to come alongside James Samaritan as our August Community Partner! 👏🏻 In this video, Northlake’s Head of School Sean Englert talks with Julie Wondergem, Director of Operations for James Samaritan, about ways the NCS family can get involved.

✝️ This local, Christ-centered organization connects the church and community to create strong support systems for children, youth and families impacted by foster care. Through mentoring, academic support, camps, foster-family connections and practical resources, James Samaritan helps vulnerable young people feel seen, valued and equipped for the future.

We hope you’ll prayerfully consider how your family can join James Samaritan in caring for foster youth right here in our community.👊🏼

💻 Learn more at jamessamaritan.org.

Catch the full interview at https://youtu.be/PbyPOwNGg2Y

08/29/2026

PamelaAnn Mender

There are children right here in St. Tammany Parish who are growing up in the foster care system, carrying burdens no child should have to carry.

James Samaritan is doing the hard, beautiful, necessary work of standing in that gap — connecting churches, volunteers, mentors, families, and community members to support kids in foster care and the families who care for them.

This October, we have an opportunity to help give foster kids something simple but powerful: a day on the water, a chartered fishing trip on Lake Pontchartrain, and the message that they are seen, valued, and not forgotten.

Each charter trip costs approximately $1,300 for a full boat of kids and mentors.
Please give today. Any amount is greatly appreciated and is tax deductible.

Donate directly to James Samaritan here:�https://givebutter.com/1BCC96
In the comments section, please include:�“take a kid fishing” or use the drop down on the site to select “fishing trip”

Be a difference maker for the marginalized, the vulnerable, and the “least of these.”

08/29/2026

Will you join us in blessing these children for a day in the lake? This is an opportunity that they would not normally be able to experience in their current life status. Help us to live on them by making a donation of any size. It goes a long way to bless these children from hard places.

Donate directly to James Samaritan here:�https://givebutter.com/1BCC96
In the comments section, please include:�“take a kid fishing” or use the drop down on the site to select “fishing trip”

Trauma Hurts, Relationships Heal

There are children right here in St. Tammany Parish who are growing up in the foster care system, carrying burdens no child should have to carry.

James Samaritan is doing the hard, beautiful, necessary work of standing in that gap — connecting churches, volunteers, mentors, families, and community members to support kids in foster care and the families who care for them.

This October, we have an opportunity to help give foster kids something simple but powerful: a day on the water, a chartered fishing trip on Lake Pontchartrain, and the message that they are seen, valued, and not forgotten.

Each charter trip costs approximately $1,300 for a full boat of kids and mentors.
Please give today. Any amount is greatly appreciated and is tax deductible.

Donate directly to James Samaritan here:�https://givebutter.com/1BCC96
In the comments section, please include:�“take a kid fishing” or use the drop down on the site to select “fishing trip”

Be a difference maker for the marginalized, the vulnerable, and the “least of these.”

08/29/2026

PamelaAnn Mender

08/29/2026

08/28/2026

One Heart NOLA made a very generous donation of 100 pajamas to stock the Urgent Needs Closet at DCFS! Teri and Nicole, you are so appreciated for your delivery this morning! These children will be blessed!

Julie Wondergem
PamelaAnn Mender

08/28/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1De5SKyPDM/

08/28/2026

Sometimes they've been busy surviving.

A child entering foster care may have experienced trauma, multiple moves, school changes, missed classroom time and enormous uncertainty — all while being expected to keep up academically.

Imagine trying to learn to read while everything else in your life is changing.

That's why James Samaritan's partnership with **Mustard Seed Literacy** matters.

This isn't simply homework help.

It's an opportunity to meet a child where they are, provide consistent one-on-one support and help them experience something every child needs:

**“I CAN do this.”**

Beginning September 2, we want to make literacy tutoring available at no cost to children in our foster care community who need additional support.

And our community can help make it possible.

🌱 **Plant a Seed. Build a Reader.**

Your donation helps us fund the tutors who will walk alongside these children — one word, one page and one victory at a time.

To give today scan the QR code or use this link: https://givebutter.com/reading-intervention-scholarship...

08/27/2026

❤️ **Maybe you’ve been looking for a place to make a difference. This could be it.**

At James Samaritan, we believe relationships have the power to change lives—and sometimes those relationships begin with one simple decision:

**“I can help.”**

We’re holding a **New Volunteer Orientation on Thursday, September 3rd**, and we would love to welcome you.

There are so many ways to serve, and you don’t have to have foster care experience to make an impact.

📚 **Tutoring** — Encourage a child academically and help build confidence.

🧸 **Foster the Family Childcare** — Care for children while foster, adoptive, and kinship caregivers receive much-needed connection and support.

💻 **Administrative Support** — Use your organizational gifts to help keep the ministry moving behind the scenes.

❤️ **Fundraising & Community Support** — Help us build relationships and secure the resources that make our programs possible.

Maybe children are your heart.
Maybe organization is your superpower.
Maybe you know everybody in town. 😊
Maybe you simply have a few hours and a willing spirit.

**There is a place for you here.**

You don’t have to change the whole world. Sometimes changing one child’s world—or making life a little easier for the people caring for them—is more than enough.

Join us for Volunteer Orientation and discover where your gifts might fit into the mission of James Samaritan.

**Your time. Your heart. Their future.**

👉 **Sign up today:** https://form.jotform.com/231734442170146

**Trauma Hurts. Relationships Heal.**
*A Hub for All Things Foster Care.*