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Season 2, Episode 5: Behind Every Child at Risk is an Adult in Crisis (w/ Charlee Tchividjian)

Key Question: Who are the marginalized in your neighborhood? The first to come to mind may be vulnerable children, but does our calling to help others expire once they reach the age of 18? Can we allow our empathy to show us the hurting child that lives inside every struggling adult?

We all have a heart for children in hard situations, but how often do we consider the circumstances that cause families to enter crises in the first place? In some cases, there are steps we can take to decrease the chance that children will be removed from their biological families, but before we can take these steps, we must start from a place of compassion. 

Joining us to explore this crucial conversation is Charlee Tchividjian. 

Charlee is the founder and CEO of Every Mother’s Advocate (EMA). She has over 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit sectors of foster care, maternal health, marginalized women, and crisis pregnancy centers both globally and domestically. Charlee is committed to seeing the effects of poverty on family separation eradicated in her lifetime by mobilizing others to act.

In this episode, Charlee challenges us to give our marginalized neighbors more grace, shift our mindset to prioritize not only saving children but strengthening entire families, remember that a person’s dignity and value do not change due to their life circumstances, and much more.

NEIGHBOR-TO-NEIGHBOR IMPLICATIONS:

  • “We came into this work knowing our hearts were going to break for kids, but we didn’t know our hearts would break for their moms.”
  • Parents whose families are lacking stability can often feel ashamed or even criminalized for struggling. By reaching out to them with a sincere helping hand, we can help address some of the preventable factors that cause family separation.
  • Jesus provided us with the ultimate example of advocacy in Scripture. He cared for the least of these, spoke of leaving 99 sheep to seek out one that was lost, and broke bread with sinners. 
  • “The ground is level at the foot of the cross. We all are in need of a Savior. We all have brokenness deeply embedded in our lives.”

RESOURCES FROM TODAY’S SHOW

SPREAD THE WORD!

We hope this episode has encouraged you as you think about practicing biblical justice and compassion together. That’s the goal! If so, will you tell others?

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Meet Our Guest

Charlee Tchividjian is the founder and CEO of Every Mother’s Advocate (EMA). She has a B.S. degree in Psychology and over 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit sectors of foster care, maternal health, marginalized women, and crisis pregnancy centers both globally and domestically. Charlee is committed to seeing the effects of poverty on family separation eradicated in her lifetime. She is married to her husband, Matt, with whom she has two sons.

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