The Faith-Based Neighborhood Initiative (FBNI) mobilizes faith and community leaders in southeast Queens to find loving homes for foster children. The goal of the Initiative is to recruit foster parents who have the spiritual grounding and community resources to care for foster children and mentor their birth parents.

Child welfare organizations have long drawn on religious institutions for help in recruiting foster parents. The Faith-Based Neighborhood Initiative stands apart for its emphasis on developing leadership within each congregation. Religious and civic communities share in the joys and trials of raising foster children, and provide important resources like youth groups and summer camps. The support of faith and neighborhood groups is critically important to at-risk children and their families.

Currently, the Initiative network includes over 40 churches, mosques and civic organizations. Key FBNI partners include:

• Mt. Moriah AME Church (Cambria Heights)
• St. Luke’s Cathedral (Jamaica)
• Amity Baptist Church (Jamaica)
• The Greater Allen AME Cathedral (Jamaica)

For more information on participating in the Faith-Based Neighborhood Initiative, please contact Rev. Lezlie Austin-Kennedy at laustin-kennedy@forestdaleinc.org