The Children’s Home Sets a New Course
March 23, 2016
In February this year, the Trustees of the Children’s Home moved toward the future with two significant decisions.
One, they approved their affiliation with The Crossnore School, a residential foster care program located in Avery County; and two, they selected Brett A. Loftis, JD, the Chief Executive Officer of The Crossnore School to assume executive leadership over the new partnership between The Children’s Home and The Crossnore School.
This combined effort of these two 100 year old agencies will increase the number of children served for both organizations and will create a sanctuary of hope and healing for children suffering from abuse and neglect in Western North Carolina.
Bishop Goodpaster reflected on this partnership, “The Children’s Home has made quite a journey over the last two years and I am grateful for the leadership demonstrated by the Board in making some difficult decisions. The partnership with Crossnore aligns with our mission of serving children and providing quality care and support for those in need. I believe we will see many benefits emerging from this relationship.”
Loftis, born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Seneca, S.C., is a graduate of Furman University and Wake Forest University School of Law.
From his college days he was always interested in working with children who were caught in difficult family situations. He was a Guardian ad Litem at the age of 19, and his senior project at Furman was a study of the trauma impacts of foster care on children and youth.
After serving for a year as a youth minister in Dallas, he entered law school at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. “I remember driving past The Children’s Home many times during my days in Winston-Salem, and thought that this was a great facility for serving children in need,” Loftis remarked in a recent interview.
After law school he worked for 13 years as a child advocate attorney with the Child Council of Charlotte. Loftis reflected, “I realized that the more worked as a child advocate, the less I actually worked with children, that was when I looked for another opportunity to be an influence in the life of children and ended up at The Crossnore School.”
Loftis has been the CEO at The Crossnore School since 2013. In 2015, he was invited to The Children’s Home during their visioning process discussions, and shared of the visioning process that they were having at The Crossnore School and the Sanctuary Model® of care.
[caption id="attachment_5280" align="alignright" width="200"]
Steeple of Sloop Chapel on the campus of The Crossnore School[/caption]
These discussions led to the decision in February of full affiliation of the two organizations and the appointment of Loftis as the executive leader of this new partnership.
Over the coming months, the governing boards of both agencies will work together to integrate services, develop plans for the future regarding staff, facilities and properties, and determine the appropriate structures for the combined organization to serve children in need.
“I am thankful for the opportunities I have had to visit with both Katheryn Northington, Chair of the TCH Board, and Brett Loftis, CEO of the Crossnore School, and believe we will continue to forge and maintain a strong relationship with The United Methodist Church and our Western North Carolina Conference," said Bishop Goodpaster.
“There are more than 10,000 children in foster care in North Carolina, and we currently serve between the two campuses a little over 300 children and youth. We are doing some great things, but it is not nearly enough. We believe this partnership will increase our scope and we will become a model of service to children in North Carolina,” Loftis stated.
Jeff Patterson, a member of the board at The Children’s Home and the Yadkin Valley District superintendent offered his thoughts on this partnership, “I’m so excited about the future of The Children’s Home. Crossnore is a great faith-based institution and this is a partnership made in heaven. Amazing things happen when institutions and churches become focused on their mission and are willing to collaborate for the sake of the cause.”
Loftis added. “The Children’s Home has a rich history of serving children for 107 years in Winston-Salem, and a heritage of United Methodists that truly care about that place. We believe that we can go back to our roots in serving children in a modern way.”
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