Faith Ministries Church launches 'Do you know where your children are' campaign – 10tv.com

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Do you know where your children are? That’s the big question faith leaders are hoping families can answer this summer. 
The launch of two initiatives focused on providing help, hope and healing across Franklin County is picking back up. Faith Ministries Church is coming together with Nationwide Children’s Hospital to help keep your children safe and support adults in need in the community. 
Dr. C. Dexter Wise with Faith Ministries Church said in 2023 when Imperial Steward went missing and was found dead, he knew he had to do something to change the narrative for children and young families. 
“That just hurt me that I have people in my midst that I don’t know where they are, or what’s going on in their life. [The campaign] came to me as a result of him,” Wise said. 
Wise said the question seems obvious, but it’s necessary to ask families to keep track of their kids. 
“At 11 o’clock in Columbus, Ohio – like so many cities, our children are all over the place, doing all kinds of things,” he said. 
Wise said the initiative is about more than just physically knowing where your child is. 
“What is their head like? What is their social media activity?” Wise asked. 
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said he is a big supporter of the initiative. Ginther said the city can make record investments in youth programming, but only families can raise their kids. 
“Know who they are hanging out with, check rooms and belongings to make sure they aren’t carrying weapons, monitor their social media,” Ginther said. 
Wise said if families keep a closer eye on their kids, then tragedies can prevented. But, he thinks it takes more than families to check on kids. 
He’s encouraging friends and extended families to help answer the question: Do you know where your children are? 
“Everyone in our community has to have some type of eyes on our children so we can help steer them in the right direction,” he said. 
He said his second initiative is also important, because it stressed the need to take care of everyone in the county, including adults. He made 2,000 of The Help Handbooks, but the information inside is also available online. Inside, you’ll find information about where you can find more than 300 resources and services.
“The concept is so simple. It’s low-tech for a high need, and it’s easy to distribute,” Wise said. “I mean, we put these in the hands of our members, we put these in the hands of community people and somebody can grab them and literally change their life,” he said.
You can read the list of agencies included in the handbook at https://thehelphandbookonline.com/ .

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