The Call’s Hempstead County affiliate, working from its office on 114 South Main in Hope, works to assist families who have chosen to take in children who have been removed from their homes by child welfare authorities or who need a stable home due to other needs that have arisen. Those wishing to make tax deductible donations are urged to go to The Call’s site set up for that purpose.
Boyett said the numbers of added homes may appear small on paper, but “each home represents a child who’s not going to have to wait,” and each inquiry signals a family willing to consider stepping into the gap for local children.
Boyett began her presentation by portraying the lived reality of children entering foster care. She told the Lions that children come into care “through circumstances beyond their control,” most often because families face more than they can manage alone. Neglect, she said, remains the number‑one reason for removal in Arkansas, and “neglect doesn’t always mean a lack of love, very often it just means a lack of support, a lack of resources or a lack of stability.” When a child cannot safely remain at home, she said, the most urgent question becomes, Where will they sleep tonight? The answer depends entirely on whether a community has prepared families and support systems in advance.
To illustrate the statewide gap between children needing placement and available foster homes, Boyett used a visual demonstration. Holding up a clear container filled with two layers of beads, she explained that the bottom layer; red and orange beads, represented the roughly 3,500 children in Arkansas foster care. The smaller top layer of blue beads represented the approximately 1,300 open foster homes. “These red beads represent real kids,” she said, “kids who have experienced trauma, disruption and loss.”
She emphasized that these are not abstract statistics: “These are Hope kids. These are Blevins kids. These are Spring Hill kids. These are our kids.” When there are not enough open homes, she said, children may be separated from siblings, moved far from their schools and churches, or placed in temporary settings never meant for children.
Boyett explained that The Call exists to close this gap by recruiting, training and supporting foster families. Recruitment, she said, is the first and most visible part of the organization’s work. The Call hosts online information meetings, speaking engagements and question‑and‑answer sessions for people who feel drawn to foster care but are unsure how to begin. “We are constantly advocating for the cause,” she said, and most of that advocacy happens through churches and community partnerships rather than through state agencies. The goal is simple: increase the number of blue beads. About 59 church speaking engagements and 31 community speaking engagements toward this goal were accomplished in 2025.
Training is the second major component of The Call’s mission, and Boyett described it as essential to long‑term success. Once a quarter, the organization provides trauma‑informed training for new foster families. The goal, she said, is to give families “the best chance for success that we can” by preparing them for the realities of caring for children who have experienced instability. Training helps families know what to expect and equips them to respond with patience and understanding.
Support, Boyett said, is what makes foster care sustainable for families who say yes. “When children enter a foster home, that’s when reality sets in,” she said. The Call walks alongside families as they receive placements, offering tangible, physical and emotional support. She described the Call Mall, a small cabin‑style building behind the Charitable Christian Medical Clinic, stocked with hygiene items, baby gear, beds, pajamas, socks and underwear; “all offered free for children and families impacted by foster care.” The organization also provides beds for children who need them, freezer meals for foster families, and regular support events. “We don’t just help families open their home,” she said. “We help them keep their homes open.”
To show what this support looks like in practice, Boyett shared a story involving three siblings. About two years ago, she said, three local children entered foster care in what the Hempstead County Department of Child and Family Services supervisor described as “the worst case of neglect she’d ever seen in Hope.” The children were severely malnourished and neglected, and their immediate need was not only removal from harm but placement in a stable home. Because families had been recruited, trained and supported ahead of time, the siblings were able to stay together. Over time, Boyett said, “their health improved, their fear softened, and they began to trust again.” She emphasized that such outcomes “don’t happen by accident, they happen because a community said yes before the need even arose.”
Boyett then distributed The Call’s 2025 impact report and highlighted key areas of progress. In addition to the two new homes opened and two more nearing approval, she noted that The Call received 13 new formal inquiries from individuals exploring foster care. The organization also hosted eight family support events and provided proactive support, meals, gift cards, household goods and Christmas assistance to every foster family in the area. “Supporting families is what allows children to remain in stable placements,” she said, adding that this support can determine whether a family continues fostering or must step back.
Engagement with churches and community groups remains central to The Call’s strategy. Boyett reported 59 church speaking engagements and 31 community speaking engagements in 2025. She stressed that foster‑care recruitment is “a personal, relational thing,” not something that can be accomplished through flyers or social media alone. “It happens through relationships,” she said, and those relationships help bring more families into the mission field of foster care. She also noted that the impact report includes data from Howard County, reflecting The Call’s collaborative approach to reaching more children with fewer resources.
Boyett outlined five ways community members can engage with The Call’s mission. The first is opening one’s home as a foster or adoptive parent, a significant commitment, she acknowledged, but the right next step for some. The second is supporting existing foster families through encouragement, meals or practical help. Third, individuals can volunteer their time or skills behind the scenes. Fourth, financial giving helps sustain training and support services. Finally, she said, many people choose to pray for children, families and decision‑makers. “Every role matters,” she said. “Everyone can do something.”
To illustrate the importance of compassion‑driven foster care, Boyett shared a second story involving a local infant. The baby was placed with a foster family during a difficult time when the child’s biological mother needed a breather to focus on drug addiction recovery. The foster family chose, as Boyett put it, “to walk alongside her,” offering encouragement, prayer and practical help. “They took her clothes in rehab,” Boyett said, and “spoke hope when the road felt long.”
Because the family had been trained and supported, they understood that foster care “isn’t about replacing families, it’s about strengthening them when possible.” Eventually, the mother completed her recovery, and the baby was reunified with her. “That day,” Boyett said, “the foster family didn’t lose a child, they gained the joy of seeing a family restored.”
Boyett then updated the Lions on The Call’s activities in early 2026. Just the previous week, the organization hosted an online information meeting for people curious about foster care. During the recent ice storm, The Call pivoted to virtual training and successfully trained six new families in partnership with other local affiliates. Those families, she said, are now equipped to open their homes. The organization also provided “winter storm mini‑kits” to all local foster homes with children; snacks, glow sticks, flashlights and batteries. “These aren’t big gestures,” she said, “but they communicate something important: You’re not alone. We’re in this together.”
Upcoming events include a foster moms’ lunch and the launch of the 2026 business partner campaign. Boyett said the lunch is simply a chance for foster mothers to connect and be encouraged. The business partner campaign, meanwhile, helps fund training and support services while offering advertising benefits to participating businesses. “Behind every one of these efforts,” she said, “is a community that believes children deserve stability and families deserve support.”
She closed her prepared remarks by returning to the image of the red beads, the children themselves. “These are our Hempstead County kids,” she said. “None of them asked for their circumstances, but every one of them is affected by whether or not adults choose to step in.” When families, volunteers and business partners say yes, she said, the message to children is clear: You’re not forgotten. You matter.
During the question and answer period, Boyett addressed concerns about local numbers and trends. One questioner asked how many children are removed from their homes locally. Boyett said the exact reasons for removal are not always known, but statewide numbers have trended downward over the past six to twelve months due to increased emphasis on preventative services. Fewer children entering care, she said, gives The Call more opportunities to help keep families together. She described the Beds for Kids program, which provides beds and mattresses when lack of sleeping arrangements threatens a child’s ability to remain safely at home. She said it is common for DCFS to call and report “five kids sleeping on the floor on one mattress,” and The Call responds by providing beds immediately.
Another question concerned funding trends for The Call. Boyett explained that the organization receives no state or federal funds and is “100 percent donor funded.” She credited longtime local advocate and Hempstead County The Call founder Dixie Coffee for building a strong foundation of community support. When Boyett joined the staff two and a half years ago, she said, The Call was in a stable financial position thanks to Coffee’s efforts.
After the meeting, she said “Since we are 100 percent donor funded, there will always be some fluctuations. Our greatest need is monthly partners who help provide consistency.”
A question about the annual Souper Sunday fundraiser, which took place this past October, prompted Boyett to describe its continued growth. Souper Sunday, she said, has expanded each year, with more than 20 churches participating. The event’s model, selling quarts of soup for eight dollars allows many people to contribute small amounts that collectively fund significant work. “So many people give eight or ten or twenty bucks Boyett said, and together those gifts sustain the organization’s mission. She called the event a success and thanked the Lions for their support, noting that several members represent businesses that partner with The Call or contribute individually.
After Boyett concluded, Lions members reflected on the broader challenges facing local children. One member recalled being told that as many as 200 Hope Public Schools students may not know where they will sleep on any given night. Another described experiences with work‑study students who lacked stable housing, sometimes staying with different relatives or acquaintances each night. Others spoke of children who came to band practice hungry or who had to call different relatives in or around town to have places to go for the evening. Several members discussed the long‑term social changes that have contributed to instability, including substance abuse, economic pressures and the erosion of structure and respect for rules among kids when both parents must work.
Despite the gravity of the issues, members emphasized the importance of doing what can be done. One Lions member said the community must focus on helping “one child, then another,” and supporting organizations like The Call that provide practical assistance. Another said the conditions some children live in are “unbearable,” but the children themselves “don’t know any better, they’re raised in it.” Helping them, he said, brings blessings that cannot be measured.
Lions members expressed appreciation for Boyett’s work and for The Call’s ongoing efforts to support vulnerable children and strengthen families throughout the region.