Tune in for a conversation with Stacy DeWitt who serves as the Executive Director of James Storehouse, a ministry dedicated to caring for foster children. There are over 400,000 children in foster care; many face unimaginable hardships and are left feeling rejected and alone. That’s why James Storehouse steps in, fulfilling the call found in James 1:27, to look after the orphans in their distress. By offering essential support to foster children—including those with disabilities—the ministry helps to break multi-generational cycles of abuse, neglect, and poverty. Hear how James Storehouse is making a profound difference in the lives of foster children, and what you and your church can get involved with this critical mission.
Stacy DeWitt is the Executive Director of James Storehouse, a community-based non-profit established in 2012. She works daily with an outstanding volunteer team to meet emergency needs to help expedite cases and ease transitions for children and families. By offering essential support to foster children—including those with disabilities—James Storehouse helps to break multi-generational cycles of abuse, neglect, and poverty.
Stacy is bilingual and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts/ Spanish. She has done graduate work at California Lutheran University and Fuller Theological Seminary. Stacy has three children ranging in age from fourteen to twenty-four. She is also an adoptive mother and has had the great joy of being a foster mother as well. She considers it the highest honor to fight for justice and to be a strong voice for the voiceless and most vulnerable in her community.
Located in Newbury Park, California, James Storehouse partners with local public and private child welfare agencies. From cribs to college, James Storehouse supports children in foster care, youth aging-out of foster care, children who have been commercially sexually exploited, children “at-risk” of removal, and all their caregiving families. The organization has received commendations from Los Angeles County and Ventura County recognizing its service to the child-welfare community.
Learn more about James Storehouse
KEY QUESTIONS:
What are the most pressing needs facing foster children, especially those with disabilities?
How can we, as Christians, respond to the needs of vulnerable children?
What can the church do to support foster children with disabilities?
KEY SCRIPTURES:
Psalm 82:3–4: “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Stephanie Daniels:
I'm Stephanie Daniels, and today we have a very special guest joining us, Stacey DeWitt. Stacey is the Executive Director of James Storehouse, a ministry dedicated to breaking multi-generational cycles of abuse, neglect, and poverty by providing essential support to some of the most vulnerable members of our community, foster children, including those with both visible and invisible disabilities.
Stacey has a heart for the brokenhearted and a passion for justice, and she's here to share with us how her ministry is making a profound difference in the lives of foster children. Stacey, welcome to the podcast.
Stacy DeWitt:
Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm so happy to be here with you.
Stephanie Daniels:
We are so excited to have you. Can you start by sharing a bit of your journey and what led you to establish James Storehouse?
Stacy DeWitt:
Yes. So, a number of years ago, my husband and I, we just sat on our living room floor, and we prayed. We asked the Lord, "What breaks your heart for our community? We want to do something about it." And right away, during that prayer time together, the Lord really impressed upon our hearts that it was foster care. That was 15 years ago now.
No one really was talking about foster care. You wouldn't see pictures, or you wouldn't see social media posts or newspaper articles. There wasn't really much going on publicly with foster care. So, I thought, you know what? Since the Lord is saying foster care, I'll just like do all the research I can and I'm just going to figure this out. So I emailed a few organizations and made some calls and I never got a call back and I never got an email back. And it was frustrating because I'm like, I know my Shepherd’s voice and I know he's saying foster care, but nobody is helping me here.
It turned out to be a real blessing, because the Lord was showing us that he wanted us to do something new that had never been done in our community before. So, what we decided to do was pray and fast once a week and just ask the Lord, what would he like us to do? 'Cause we didn't want to just jump in and start, we want to go with the flow of the Holy Spirit. So, we did that for a good nine months and in that nine month time, we brought to our church, my husband's a pastor of Conejo Church, we had about 80 people at the time, and we just said, "Hey, the Lord is telling us that we need to do something about children in foster care, and will you be praying with us?"
During that time, the Lord brought to us a vision of a warehouse, and we thought, “You know what? Everybody in our community has so many nice things. What if people donated those things? And, you know, kids are outgrowing their clothes so fast. Baby gear is only used for a short season, but it's still good at the end of that season. What if we provided those things to foster families?"
Our Church was like we're in let's do it. Let's raise the money. Let's have a warehouse and see where the Lord takes it from there. And while we were raising the money, I got a call one morning from a police officer to pick up a three-year-old little girl at the Palm Garden Hotel in Newbury Park. So, I dropped everything, drove over to the Palm Garden hotel, and a police officer was standing outside with her. This little girl just had on a wet diaper, she had a sippy cup that was empty, her only belonging, and he handed her to me. I wrapped her up in a blanket, I had a car seat in my car, and I took her home.
And it was during that time of getting her acclimated into our home and looking around and realizing, I don't have a diaper for the next diaper change. I don't have anything for this sweet little girl. I started making calls to neighbors, to family, to see what anybody had that I could borrow. Then we were like, "Oh my goodness. I think the Lord is showing us what it's like to take in a child in crisis and not have any belongings." So, we brought that to our church and we said, this is for sure from the Lord. Let's do this vision that he's given us of a warehouse and providing for families so they can say “yes.”
Because it's incredibly expensive to get a child set up and not have any support. So, what could we do to help that so people could say yes, so there's no barrier. So that began our journey. The Lord in miraculous ways provided 100,000 dollars for our little church so that we were able to open our first warehouse.
We had two years to build a donor base to see if God wanted us to sustain this, to keep this going. And we were able to do that. So that is, in a nutshell, how the Lord, showed us the vision.
Stephanie Daniels:
That is so incredible. I love that, truly where God guides, he provides. I mean, it feels like he was putting your nose right on what he wanted you to do.
Stacy DeWitt:
Yes.
Stephanie Daniels:
So, in your experience, do foster children with visible and invisible disabilities tend to face greater challenges in the system compared to others?
Stacy DeWitt:
Yes, they absolutely do. It is, first of all, much harder to find a placement for a child with visible or invisible disabilities. It's a hard call. There aren't very many incentives for a resource family, or a foster family, to take a child that has complex needs. For example, 25 percent of all the children and youth are diagnosed with PTSD. So just right there off the bat they are experiencing life that's so much harder.
It is really a challenge for the kids for school. They are often changing homes multiple times because of behaviors, or because their care is so intensive. They're changing schools multiple times, which leads to gaps in their education. So just even that aspect of their lives is so difficult, because maybe they have an IEP, they're doing great in school, they're getting their needs met, but then they change placements and then they're starting all over again. And that teacher doesn't know about it yet, maybe the cum folder hasn't made it to the school yet. So school is a big challenge for the kids.
These tiny little infants who are drug exposed, four and five, six drugs that they're detoxing from. It's hard sometimes to find a placement for these sweet babies because they suffer so much detoxing from all those drugs. You know, kids have autism, diabetes, cerebral palsy, all these things. They start life often just with greater challenges.
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow. Yeah, I read a 2006 report that the United Cerebral Palsy and Children's Rights estimated that one third of the children in American foster care systems have disabilities. And this report also states that the state foster care systems have not adequately addressed the unique needs of children with disabilities. And as I'm hearing you share, what would you say to people who may not have children who are on the fence with feeling a stir in their heart like...
Stacy DeWitt:
Mhmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
Okay, I need to do something, but I'm afraid. What would you say to calm that fear and encourage people to take a step to help?
Stacy DeWitt:
Oh, yes! If they're feeling that fear, that's natural and normal, but they can just start inquiring. They could call James Storehouse. They could call the County, and just say, "I'm interested in learning more."
And through that process, God will call them either to take a child or children into their home, but they'll also find out about all the different ways that they can serve and support children in foster care with visible and invisible disabilities. There are so many ways to help, that are actually really fun and make a difference.
So people can use their own giftings, their own personalities, their own things that they enjoy, and they can use that to help the kids.
Stephanie Daniels:
I love that. You know, one of the scriptures that has a lot to say about us taking action, Psalms 82:3-4 says, "Give justice to the weak and the fatherless. Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked." So, how can we as Christians respond to these needs, ensuring that these vulnerable children not only receive the care they need, but also experience the love and hope found in Christ?
Stacy DeWitt:
Yeah. Oh, I love that. Just really motivates my heart.
The reason we're called James Storehouse is that James comes from James 1:27. My favorite verse. “Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is to look after widows and orphans in their distress. Also to keep yourself from being polluted by the world.” But that strong call, especially to the Christian community, is to care for orphans in their distress. So, that is our number one job here, to show the love of Christ, especially to the vulnerable.
I think a really important thing is to be adaptable. As a Christian, we can go through life and, isolate ourself, but if God's putting something on your heart to care for these kids, go for it. Find a way to serve. Find a way to help. You'll be blessed beyond your wildest imagination.
Another way I was thinking about this, is, as Christians, how do we respond to the need and also show the love and hope of Jesus. We have to be adaptable at James Storehouse too. So, one of the sweet little boys, in foster care, he had a heart transplant. Can you imagine, the level of care that this foster mom, would be experiencing to take care of that sweet boy? So he had a heart transplant, he was in a wheelchair, and the very day that he got out of the hospital, they wanted to come for resources. Clothing, hygiene, he really wasn't in the place where he could go into a public store. So, what we did, and he also was experiencing some social anxiety as well, is we adapted. We shut down James Storehouse just for this sweet little boy and his foster mom to come in so they could shop, not be exposed to a lot of people. They could have that dignity and care and love that he deserves. So we learn to adapt to be able to share the love of Christ.
Another way is we had a baby shower for a former foster youth. She is having her sixth baby, single mama. And her oldest son has autism, and he can be really aggressive and she just needed a break. She's about to have her sixth baby and she's got this care for her oldest son. So we had someone from our church, her name is Kathleen, she's 80 years young, she came over to James Storehouse and Andrew, that sweet little boy who has autism, he came over here and Kathleen hung out with him and played Monopoly for two hours and they had a great time while mama got to take a nap and just rest for a little bit.
So, we can share the love of Christ in all kinds of ways just especially by being adaptable. Seeing the need and meeting the need.
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow. That's such a practical way to meet a need is come play with somebody's kiddo so they can...
Stacy DeWitt:
Yes.
Stephanie Daniels:
Take a break. We realized that a lot at Joni and Friends. Parents that are in the thick of raising children with disabilities, they need respite.
Stacy DeWitt:
Yes.
Stephanie Daniels:
So, wow. That's, that's so beautiful. A beautiful way to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Stacy DeWitt:
We have to be a community. We have to support each other.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes, 100 percent. Well, Stacey, you've personally been a foster mother and have adopted children. How has that experience shaped your perspective on disability?
Stacy DeWitt:
Honestly, if I think back to before I became a mom, I was like, "I never want to be a parent of a child with a disability. I just don't feel the call. I don't feel equipped. I don't want to learn about it. I don't want that for my life." And I even prayed that, Lord I don't want that for my life. But you know what's so funny is that God gives you the desires of your heart. It has changed me, it has given me so much joy. You know, it has its challenges, but I found my calling. I found the reason I'm here on earth is to love people in hard places and to encourage others that you can do it too. It makes me want to cry, there's just so much joy in caring for vulnerable people and vulnerable children, vulnerable parents, vulnerable caregivers. So, God 1000 percent met me there. It changed me forever.
My kids have all kinds of unique and special needs. We have them here at James Storehouse all day, every day and we have a blast. We also have our moments where we share with each other, this is, I can't keep going. This is too much. But then within community, God has built community for a reason so that we share our burdens, so that we lift each other up. We pray for each other. In our weakness, we are strong in him. So, if anybody is worried or concerned that they can't do it, that they weren't made for this, that there isn't going to be support. They can just set that aside because God is so faithful. He is the father to the fatherless. So, he is the best dad out there. I see it on a daily basis, so I can prove it to you that he will provide.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes. I love that you're sharing that because God's heart is truly that of a father and he cares so well for us and loves each of us so much. I love that you came in with a wall to...
Stacy DeWitt:
Absolutely.
Stephanie Daniels:
Opening your heart to somebody with some special needs, but the Lord in his sovereignty said, "Hey, I know what's best for you, Stacey." I love that he broke down that wall and you get to see the joy of loving people with lots of unique challenges or differences. It's really sweet.
From your perspective, Stacy, what ways can local churches become more involved in supporting foster children with disabilities?
Stacy DeWitt:
Yeah, there are so many ways. All they have to do is reach out. We are only limited by our creativity in how to support foster children, foster children with disabilities. Any gifting or talent you have, say for example, you love computers and your thing is IT. I guarantee you that if you were to call James Storehouse, we would have a youth or a family that might either want to learn those skills or needing a laptop for school. If you sow, and you have that talent, you could call James Storehouse and just say, "this is what I love to do." We would have a class, or we would have a place for you to serve at our prom event where the girls are needing alterations for their gowns. If you love to paint, if you love to provide therapy, there is no limit to how you can become involved.
I think that's a really great picture of the body of Christ. We all have our part. No part is more important than the other. We all are a part of the body. And when we offer that, then the body is strengthened. We come into our fullness. So, if you love banking, if you love budgets, there's those youth that don't have a family and need to learn that skill. If you love to sit with children and you love to read books, you love to rock babies, there is an unlimited amount of ways that you can come alongside foster families, resource families, caregiving families, and it's fun. You can just decide like, "What is it I love to do?" And then you use that as a way to serve.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's so cool. So really you can take what's in your hand and let that be a blessing to another family. What steps would you say that the local church could take to create more inclusive environment?
Stacy DeWitt:
I think, especially children and youth volunteers need to be trauma informed. What that means is that they, get some training to understand what happens when a child is abused or neglected. What happens to their brains? What behaviors will you see? And what situations will you encounter? And then just get training on what to do. There is something called TBRI training, which goes a little more in depth. And that shows the behaviors that you're seeing that is just the tip of the iceberg, but there's so much happening below the surface. It just creates empathy in the adult who would be working with the kids or the youth and helps them to figure out how best to meet the child in their need.
Stephanie Daniels:
So, is that for children with disabilities? Or is it more focused on working with children in the foster system?
Stacy DeWitt:
TBRI training is for anyone, any children with any disabilities. And it helps you to be able to meet their like physical and emotional needs.
Stephanie Daniels:
Okay. Okay. Awesome. Well, as I was listening to my Bible this morning in Exodus 18, Jethro is offering praise because the Lord is a rescuer. And he says, "I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods because he rescues his people from oppression." And we're called to be like Christ, to carry and to walk in his character, nature, and authority. James 2:15-16 says, "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?" So, Stacy, hearing what you're saying and reading these scriptures, it's pretty clear that there's something for us to do. So for our listeners who feel called to help, what advice would you give them in terms of getting involved with foster care or disability ministry?
Stacy DeWitt:
Yeah, I think the first thing would be just have a conversation with the Lord. Just talk with him in your quiet time. Just like I think that I want to be involved or like this is on my mind and it's bugging me. Let's talk about it Lord, let's figure this out, and just start with a conversation with the Lord. They could call James Storehouse, Joni and Friends, a church, just inquiring about, do you have, a ministry that I could serve in like this? Disability ministry? Foster care ministry? And then, you know what, start sharing that with your friends. Just saying, "Hey, I'm feeling like I want to get involved. Do you know any disability ministries? Do you know any foster care ministries?" The more you talk about it, the more you share with people, God's gonna open doors.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes.
Stacy DeWitt:
And you can look on Instagram, look up the hashtag "disability ministry" or "foster care ministry," and just start to look and see, ‘What's available?’ ‘What are people doing?’ And God definitely will open doors. He is waiting with open arms to welcome people into this ministry. It is definitely kingdom work. It's upside-down ministry. It's where the least of these become the greatest of these. It'll be the greatest thrill of their life. So fulfilling. So yeah, starts I think with just a conversation with the Lord, a prayer, reaching out to local churches, sharing with friends and people in their community if they have an interest in it, and looking for open doors.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's so good. And I think it goes back to how we started this out with you sitting down with your husband, just in the middle of the living room, you guys praying. And God truly does provide for wherever he wants you to go. So that's really reassuring. We just got to lean into the Lord and, and see what he wants to unpack with us. That's so good.
Stacy DeWitt:
And I would tell people not to give up. Sometimes it's about the journey and sometimes God answers prayers like that quickly and the doors open quickly. And sometimes it's about the journey, like the Lord is teaching you things along the way. So, I'd really encourage people not to give up. It took us nine months of prayer and fasting to figure out the very first step we needed to take. So, yeah, just encourage people to not give up if God doesn't answer and open that door immediately just to keep pressing in and wait for him.
Stephanie Daniels:
I just so feel stirred. My husband and I have been married almost 20 years and we don't have children. We've struggled with infertility in this time, but adoption has always been just something that we feel like the Lord has put in our hearts to do.
Stacy DeWitt:
Awesome.
Stephanie Daniels:
And so, I definitely feel that stirring. And I'm not getting any younger, so I'm like, "Okay, Lord, help me know when the time is right to step out." And I do believe that he will do that. If anybody else out there is, like me, who is like, "Oh, I don't know when the right time to go is." I believe he'll lead us to that. But I have loved everything that you've shared with us so far.
Stacy DeWitt:
Oh, I love that. Thank you. And you know what? There are thousands of kids that are waiting to be adopted all ages right now in the U. S. foster care system. So, you know, just look into it. Maybe God is prompting your heart this way.
Stephanie Daniels:
Absolutely. Well, our Joni and Friends Biblical Commission comes from Luke 14 where it says, "Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame." And then a few verses down, it says, "Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that my house may be full." And I think that this verse marries so well with your foundation for James Storehouse, which comes from James 1:27, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. Stacy, how do you think we as Christians can better live out these calls?
Stacy DeWitt:
Oh, I love this so much. It just, is music to my ears. I feel like the first thing is, to invite people, invite them, include them. Those families that are receiving kids with disabilities, receiving those kids in foster care, they often are excluded. Because sometimes there's behaviors that the kids are working through, or maybe they have complex medical issues. Sometimes they're just not thought of or invited to things, to park dates, to parties, to coffee dates. So, I think the call to bring them in is to be inclusive, invite people.
If you know a mama who has a placement of a child or children with disabilities or, just experiencing foster care, invite them out for coffee. Just let them share their heart about what is going on, all the details, how it's hard, how it's challenging. Don't try to solve their problems. Just be a loving listening ear, because at the end of your time together, that mama is going to feel so much better. She's going to feel heard. She's going to feel like she can get back in there again and serve in love, with the Lord's strength. So be inclusive, invite them to park dates, invite them out to dinner or to your home. A lot of times these families aren't included. And they just want to feel loved. They need to feel loved. They're part of the community and they have lots to give. So inclusive is the most important thing.
I feel like, experiencing community is everything. That's like a lot of times where we get our strength. And we don't want anybody to feel left out. One example for James Storehouse is in the fall, we're going to have a fall family fair. And who are we inviting? We're inviting those vulnerable families that never get invited, that often are left out. Where the behaviors are sometimes too difficult, or their complex medical issues make it hard for them to go places.
Well, we're making it accessible for them. So that's the heart behind those verses, is to call everybody, and not just call everybody and invite them, it's to honor them, to give them the royal treatment. To seat them at the table, at the head of the table.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes!
Stacy DeWitt:
To give them the feeling they are royalty, that they're the VIPs. In the kingdom of God, like I mentioned before, it's an upside-down economy. So, those that our world would say are the lowest are, in the kingdom, the highest. So, we get to celebrate those families. We get to help them know that they are wanted, needed, included, loved. So that is one of my favorite parts of the calling of my life, is to get to elevate, and honor the families saying yes to taking in kids from hard places.
Stephanie Daniels:
I absolutely love that. That just points to the scripture where it talks about when you've done it unto the least of these, you've done it unto me. And I just so appreciate too those practical examples. I feel like sometimes we're racking our brains trying to figure out, "What can I do? How can I be a blessing?" But, it's as simple as inviting, a mama out to Chick-fil-A. You know, maybe grabbing her lunch, grabbing her little one lunch, and then letting them go play while you just get to sit and encourage her or just listen, like you said. And so, thank you so much for sharing that. I hope that some people are encouraged to say, "You know what? There's something I can do."
Stacy DeWitt:
Absolutely.
Stephanie Daniels:
Thank you so much, Stacy, for sharing your incredible work with us today, your commitment to serving foster children, especially those facing such overwhelming challenges is a testament to how we can live out the Gospel and make a real difference in our communities. And I've been so blessed by your insights and experiences. I've been a little challenged, and I'm sure that our listeners have to.
Stacy DeWitt:
Thank you so much for this privilege.
Stephanie Daniels:
Absolutely. And for those of you tuning in, let's continue to pray and take action to create a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ
Crystal Keating:
Thank you for listening today. For more episodes, find us wherever you get your podcast and be sure to subscribe. We’d also love it if you would tell a friend. And for more encouragement, follow Joni and Friends on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. And visit our website at joniandfriends.org/podcast. Thank you for listening to the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast.
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