FCC Provides Care Through Clothes at Maryhurst

Every year, many of the young girls that come to Maryhurst, a child welfare agency located in Louisville, KY, show up with very little to claim as their own and no place to call home, Maryhurst is a place of new beginnings for girls who have been traumatized by unimaginable abuse.

The young women live at Maryhurst for 9 - 12 months, receiving a wide range of clinical services to help them heal and come to terms with their previous mistreatment. Maryhurst provides on-campus education and independent living training that helps young women helping them heal and find hope that the future will be better than the past. In 2018, Maryhurst celebrated 175 years in continuous operation, making them the oldest child welfare agency in Kentucky and more than 80% of the children who go through the program, leave successfully.

First Christian Church began a partnership with Maryhurst in 2017, with a Wholeness grant for the purchase of clothes to keep in stock in the “Maryhurst Boutique”, a welcoming storage space for clothing and other personal items. The young women who come to Maryhurst, often come with only the clothes on their backs or with nothing more than one or two outfits to their name. Those who come with clothing often struggle with having outgrown the outfits they have with them or having clothes that don’t match the season’s weather.

This year, for the third year in a row, FCC has funded the Maryhurst Boutique, providing a grant for the purchase of underwear, tops, shorts, socks, pajamas, tennis shoes, coats, gloves, and more, including gift cards to take the children shopping at Target, Kohl’s, or Wal-Mart for any special clothing needs. The Boutique also stocks personal care items, stuffed animals, puzzle books, and other small items that may bring comfort to a child admitted to the program.

The children in the care of Maryhurst have experienced significant trauma in their young lives, so meeting their most basic physical needs becomes a tangible way for the staff to show them that they have value. The items the girls receive from the Boutique are one way of saying, “We’re glad you’re here. You’re important to us.”

The wholeness grant used to fund this ministry was made possible through your faithful financial support of our church and its ministries and help fund a variety of efforts to make our world a better place.

You can find more examples of those efforts or apply for a grant to make the world a better place by clicking here.