The greatest benefit to the children is, of course, getting their mom back.  They also have a safe, stable, clean place to live while they are participating in the program.  All school-aged children receive weekly counseling appropriate to their age and issues from a licensed trauma-informed professional counselor.  While their moms are in class, the children participate in Children’s Ministry activities.  During the summer months, the children are eligible to take part in various camps.  Every child’s and mom’s birthday is celebrated during their birth month, with all the goodies and a present or two.

Because space and resources are limited and the line must be drawn somewhere, we are not able to serve men or single women without children.  To qualify, each mom admitted into the program must have a least one child and up to three children who will live with her while the family is participating in the program.

In a word, Yes!  There are approximately 13,000 women in the Texas Prison System, 98% of whom will eventually be released and roughly 70% of whom have children.  Most of the women have few, if any, financial resources, limited job and life skills, and almost no access to safe and appropriate housing for their children.  Mercy’s Shore addresses each of these needs.

The Mercy’s Shore program is designed to meet the individual needs of each family served.  As a general rule, a family will be a part of the program for 9-months to 16-months, depending on the needs and progress achieved by the children and their mother in the program.

While the moms did make poor choices, the children did not.  Children of previously incarcerated moms are much more likely to be involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems if there is no intervention in the lives of their moms There is hope, however, with the right tools, such as a two-generation approach our services utilize with a goal of breaking the intergenerational cycle.  The children must not be punished for the poor choices of their moms.

The need for volunteers is great and without volunteers Mercy’s Shore could never hope to meet the vast need that exists.  There are many tasks you can perform without any specialized training or education.  For example, do you know how to play “Go Fish”, rock a baby, share your life experience with a mother who needs a godly women to mentor her, play catch with a boy, read a book to a child?  Yes, we have a place for you at Mercy’s Shore.

Trauma informed services are services created to support the healing and growth of those who have experienced trauma while avoiding re-traumatization. Trauma informed services provide a framework for understanding the impact of trauma on survivors, communities, and those who serve them and ensures that our services are responsive to the needs of survivors.  We have all experienced trauma to a greater or lesser extent, Mercy’s Shore strives to avoid the re-traumatization of those we serve.