Update:
As stated below and in our GiveSendGo, my husband and I were not financially prepared for this situation and we are both already working two jobs. WC also has a job and LC will be getting a job when he turns 15; however, we do not want them working long hours because neither one of them have had any type of formal schooling in nearly two years. They are both behind on credit and having to do extra academic work on top of their school work to try and catch up. Since fifth grade, LC has been in nine different schooling environments. WC has been in five different schooling environments since starting high school. They need stability and they need time to be at home so we can help them daily with their studies.
Below are things this financial support will cover now and over the next six-ish years and every dime will be spent on supporting these teens:
- Bed Frame/Mattresses/Sheets/Pillows/Blankets
- Bedroom Furniture
- FOOD
- Clothing, Shoes, Underwear, Socks (and LC is growing FAST)
- Sports Costs
- Gas/Car Insurance/Car Maintenance
- Towels/Toiletries
- Finishing our downstairs bathroom so that we have an extra shower (it already has toilet and sink and is plumed for a shower)
- Increased utilities cost
- Couch (because we only have seating for four)
- Kitchen Table (because we only have seating for (barely) four)
- Braces for LC (he has had braces since May 2025 with only two adjustments because payments were stopped)
- Medical Expenses
- School projects/fees/activities
- Cell Phone Plan
- We would like to take them on one trip where they learn how to navigate an airport and airline travel.
- We would like to take them on a family vacation to make a good memory for them. One time, I asked WC about trips she took growing up and she stated that she does not like to think or talk about them because all they consisted of were getting yelled at and physically abused.
I do have a Venmo (@susanB-White-16), CashApp ($SusanBWhite16), but also know that not everyone does so we created a GiveSendGo Campaign as well.
Original Post
Our Family Has Grown by Four Teenage Feet…And We Need Your Help! Yes, you read that title correctly! Our family has (unexpectedly to us but not to God) grown by taking in a sibling set of teenagers over the last two months—a 17-year-old Junior (WC) and her 14-year-old brother (LC). We took in WC back August, and you can read about how that came to be in our original blog post. Now, long story short, we have also taken in her brother.Â
Our Needs
We need financial help for us to be able to care for these children. Although they have suffered a literal lifetime of abuse and neglect (with over 30 DCS investigations) and both feel unsafe to return to their home—the state has denied our claim for any type of subsided guardianship to help offset the expenses of caring for WC and LC.
We, like most families in America today, live paycheck to paycheck and both work two jobs. We have been very open with WC and LC that while we are glad to be able to provide a safe place for them and take them in as our own, it will take financial assistance. You could probably imagine how incredibly disappointing both were when the state determined all the abuse they endured was still not enough to be approved for a subsidized permanent guardianship to help them be financially provided for.😔
We have talked with them about God and specifically about God as provider. I told them would we make their needs known and trust that God, though His people, would meet our needs and how it is truly the job of the Church, not the government, to care for orphaned and abused children like them.
With all that said, we are trying to raise $77,000 to help care for WC and LC through their high school and college years. This matches the amount the state determines it would take to care for each until they graduate from high school. Simply typing that feels like an insurmountable goal. While we are trying to stave off our doubts, we are simultaneously encouraging WC and LC to watch what the Lord will do through His people when you let a need be known.
I have tried to keep the extent and circumstances of their neglect and abuse vague for the sake of their privacy, but anyone is welcome to reach out if they want to hear more about these children and their specific needs.
I do have a Venmo (@susanB-White-16), CashApp ($SusanBWhite16), but also know that not everyone does so we created a GiveSendGo Campaign as well.