In 1996, Charity Carmody and her husband felt called to foster care. They purchased an 8-bedroom house in Mountain View, Anchorage, and immediately experienced a constant inflow of people in need of a family. The Carmodys became foster parents—today they are grandparents to foster children.
In 2009, the Carmodys joined with other families in the Anchorage area to form a transitional living shelter for homeless mothers and their children. In 2014, that organization became what Beacon Hill is today—a foster care and adoption resource center for the Anchorage community. Beacon Hill is also the implementer of Safe Families for Children, a network of families committed to providing hospitality for children in crisis.
“A lot of people in our community don’t realize that these kids exist,” Charity says, “Kids in Alaska are two times more likely to enter the foster care system. Our role (at Beacon Hill) is to put these children in need on the doorstep of our community, saying, ‘What are you going to do about this?’ Our goal is to keep families together as much as possible.”
Beacon Hill provides a chance at adoption for kids who would never have imagined it possible. Through their Heart Gallery, Beacon Hill connects kids with forever families by displaying the names, photos, and bios of children in need, keeping them out of the foster care system.
Learn more at BeaconHillAK.com.