Connected Families

Connected Families ABCFM foster care, adoption, and biological family services. Christ-centered case management helping children experience stability and hope.

We loved seeing the Tipton family attend the Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services Foster Family of the Year...
06/04/2026

We loved seeing the Tipton family attend the Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services Foster Family of the Year Gala in May, where they were honored as the Area 5 Foster Family of the Year.

The Tiptons embody what it means to provide hope, stability, and love to children in foster care. Their willingness to open their hearts and home is making a lasting difference in the lives of Arkansas children and families, and we couldn't be more proud of this well-deserved recognition.

Join us in celebrating the Tipton family and all those who choose to see the one in foster care!

Over the past several weeks, we’ve shared stories of foster families, staff, children, and supporters whose lives have b...
05/30/2026

Over the past several weeks, we’ve shared stories of foster families, staff, children, and supporters whose lives have been impacted through the ministry of Connected Families. Each story is a reminder that real change happens when we choose to see the one God places in front of us.

One child needing safety.
One family needing hope.
One opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Because of faithful foster families, counselors, churches, donors, volunteers, and supporters across Arkansas, families are being built, strengthened, and restored every single day.

Thank you for walking alongside us in this mission. Thank you for praying, serving, giving, fostering, encouraging, and believing that every child and family matters. Foster Care Month may be ending, but the mission continues. And there is still a role for each of us to play.

“Here am I. Send me!” — Isaiah 6:8

“One child. One family. One opportunity to share the love of Christ.” At Connected, we believe lasting change begins whe...
05/29/2026

“One child. One family. One opportunity to share the love of Christ.”

At Connected, we believe lasting change begins when we choose to truly see the one God places in front of us. Through foster care, counseling, family support, and compassionate care, we are building, strengthening, and restoring Arkansas families every day.

Thank you to every foster family, supporter, church, volunteer, and advocate who continues to say “yes” to this mission. Your faithfulness is making an eternal impact across Arkansas.

As we near the end of Foster Care Month, we want to ask one simple question: What is your role? Maybe your role is becom...
05/27/2026

As we near the end of Foster Care Month, we want to ask one simple question: What is your role?

Maybe your role is becoming a foster parent.
Maybe it’s supporting a foster family.
Maybe it’s praying, giving, serving, mentoring, providing meals, or simply encouraging families who are walking through hard seasons.

Across Arkansas, children and families are finding hope because people are willing to step in and stand beside them.

At Connected, we believe every person can play a part in building, strengthening, and restoring families. You don’t have to do everything but you simply have to be willing to see the one God places in front of you.

One child. One family. One opportunity to share the love of Christ.

Will you join us in what God is doing across Arkansas?

Ministry Highlight: Sherry Brooks For nearly four decades, Sherry Brooks has faithfully walked alongside Arkansas Baptis...
05/26/2026

Ministry Highlight: Sherry Brooks

For nearly four decades, Sherry Brooks has faithfully walked alongside Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries through seasons of change, growth, heartbreak, and restoration.

Beginning in 1986 as houseparents in Monticello, Sherry and her late husband answered God’s call to serve children and families through ABCFM. Over the years, they served in children’s homes, emergency receiving shelters, foster care ministries, and family care programs always with one purpose: showing the love of Jesus to hurting children and families.

Through every chapter, one thing remained constant: a calling to “See the One.”

Today, Sherry continues serving families through Connected Families in Northeast Arkansas, witnessing lives changed through counseling, foster care, reunification, childcare, and Christ-centered support.

“I have seen mothers and children reunited in a safe environment. I have seen strongholds of addiction broken. I have seen marriages restored and families worshipping together in church.”

ABCFM is more than a ministry. It is a family of believers committed to being the hands and feet of Jesus across Arkansas.

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” — Isaiah 6:8

Foster Family Highlight: The Johnson Family Since opening their home in July 2024, the Johnson family has faithfully ans...
05/23/2026

Foster Family Highlight: The Johnson Family

Since opening their home in July 2024, the Johnson family has faithfully answered the call to foster with extraordinary love, compassion, and dedication.

In less than a year, they have welcomed 10 placements into their home including 4 sibling sets and several respite placements, caring for children with a wide range of needs, from autism and nonverbal communication to cancer treatments and daily medical care.

Through every placement, the Johnsons have shown unwavering commitment by advocating for children’s medical and therapy needs, attending meetings and court hearings, and maintaining strong communication with everyone involved in each child’s care.

Most importantly, they pour the love of Jesus into every child who enters their home praying together daily, attending church, and creating a safe place filled with grace and compassion.

Out of their 10 placements, 6 children have successfully reunified with their biological families. Even after reunification, the Johnsons continue supporting families by maintaining relationships and offering encouragement however they can.

From the Johnson family:

“Fostering is both joyful and heartbreaking. Opening our home to children who need love and safety has been one of the greatest blessings God has given us. Yes, our home can be loud, chaotic, and messy — rushing out the door with mismatched shoes and inside out shirts — but those are the moments that fill our hearts the most.

The hardest part will always be letting go. After loving a child for months, the quiet feels different. But seeing families heal and reunite reminds us why we do this. It reminds us of God's grace, restoration, and the beauty of loving others through hard seasons.”

The verse they stand on is Galatians 6:2:
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Thank you, Johnson family, for living out the Gospel and making a lasting impact in the lives of Arkansas Families and Children!

Caseworker Spotlight: Morgan Bradley For Morgan Bradley, the calling to foster care started with a love for children and...
05/20/2026

Caseworker Spotlight: Morgan Bradley

For Morgan Bradley, the calling to foster care started with a love for children and a desire to walk with them through difficult seasons.

“God opened the door for me to work with kids during the hardest time of their life.”

One of the most rewarding parts of Morgan’s work is seeing children begin to feel safe, accepted, and supported in their foster homes. Watching foster families encourage reunification and care deeply for biological families is a powerful reminder of what compassionate care can look like.

While the work can be challenging, especially during holidays when children deeply miss their families, hope continues to grow through the support of caring foster families and dedicated caseworkers.

“My favorite part of my job is seeing a child enjoy being a kid again. I love watching them grow and finding their potential.”

Thank you, Morgan, for faithfully serving children and families across Arkansas!

05/18/2026

When you think about foster care, what feels the hardest?

For many people, the answer is fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of not being enough. Fear of getting attached. Fear of how it may impact your family.

The truth is, foster care can be hard but you do not have to do it alone. At Connected , we walk alongside foster families with training, support, and encouragement every step of the way.

Sometimes courage doesn’t mean having no fear. Sometimes it simply means saying “yes” despite it.

Sometimes the best way to understand foster care… is to hear from someone living it.Taylor Johnson shared this about her...
05/15/2026

Sometimes the best way to understand foster care… is to hear from someone living it.

Taylor Johnson shared this about her family's journey:

“The best way I can describe it is walking in faith—holding out our yes with intention. We’ve always known this journey would be made up of moments where we choose to give a child a chance.”

“It’s easy to lose sight of that in the hard seasons.”

“But Connected has walked through it all with us—through every moment with our foster kids, and even through the hardest parts of our own lives. Someone always answers the phone… and more often than not, they show up with food and tissues.”*

“You are the family we didn’t even know we needed.”

Foster care was never meant to be done alone. See the one and know you don’t have to do it by yourself.

Foster Family Highlight: The Johnsons When Matthew and Taylor Johnson said yes to foster care, they weren’t thinking abo...
05/13/2026

Foster Family Highlight: The Johnsons

When Matthew and Taylor Johnson said yes to foster care, they weren’t thinking about numbers or outcomes. They were simply willing to say yes to one child. Since opening their home in 2022, that one yes has turned into 16 children with most of them older, many part of sibling groups, and often the ones who are hardest to place.

But the Johnsons don’t see “hard placements.” They see kids who need consistency, patience, and someone willing to stay. Over time, their home has become what so many children in care are searching for: a safe place to land.

Life in their home is full. Their 15-passenger van carries kids to school, doctor’s appointments, the park, after-school events, and even prom. Their family has grown, their rhythms have stretched, and still, they continue to say yes.

As Taylor shared, “the journey has been multiple moments of intentionally saying yes to giving a child a chance.” Not because it’s easy, but because they’ve chosen to see each child for who they are, not just what they’ve been through. And they haven’t done it alone.

Through every placement and every hard season, even in the middle of personal loss, they’ve had a community walking with them. “Connected has walked through it with us hand in hand… someone always answers the phone,” Taylor said. *“You are the family we didn’t even know we needed.”

This is what it looks like to see the one. Not everything at once, but one child at a time. One intentional yes after another.

See the one and consider what your yes could look like.

Address

Little Rock, AR

Website

https://linktr.ee/abcfm

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