Circle of Care seeks 'generational change' through programs
Nov. 14—Circle of Care President and CEO Keith Howard says everyone has a story.
Howard told a large group of people gathered Saturday for the organization's Supper and Stories fundraiser at the McAlester Country Club the story of an 18-year-old sitting in a county jail.
"We can all throw stones and rocks and say 'hey, you belong there,'" Howard said. "But sometimes, we have to rewind the story to see how did he get there?"
He spoke on the man's childhood and how his parents divorced at a young age and how the man's father would go on drinking binges and leave his children behind to fend for themselves for days at a time. The 18-year-old eventually ended up in the county jail after an incident with a knife with a stepbrother.
"Now, I'm not going to tell you another fairy tale about somebody pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. Because we know that isn't really true," Howard said. "People need people. People need connection. People need relationships. And as he sat, head spinning, thinking 'this isn't what I want my life to be. I don't want to recreate what I was raised in. I want something different.' The winds of change began to blow through that county jail."
Howard eventually revealed the man in the story was his father and how his story helped him make decisions when he became a foster parent.
"Generation changed. Checkmark," Howard said. "My dad's adverse childhood experience score is a nine, mine's a zero. He transformed a whole generation in one shot. As I poured into my foster son, I was just teaching what my daddy taught me. The Howards don't go to jail, son. And guess what? That young man never went to jail either. He's in college in Waco, Texas right now."
Circle of Care is a faith-based agency providing foster care and prevention services throughout the state of Oklahoma. The organization is committed to keeping families together through intervention, prevention, and restoration through children and family-focused programs.
Based in Oklahoma City, the organization has several locations across Oklahoma, including McAlester.
"We're inviting you into our story tonight at Circle of Care," Howard said. "What I really want to tell you is we're about generational change at Circle of Care. Everything we do, we're seeking to disrupt generational curses and generational challenges. We're seeking to rewrite news stories because everyone has a story, and mine comes out of an 18-year-old sitting in a county jail and yet I'm here today, two degrees, a family of eight, never even had a thought about going to jail because three people stepped into my daddy's life and they wrote a better story."
District 18 District Attorney Chuck Sullivan, who emceed the event, said 83% of children in foster care out of Pittsburg County are not housed in the county and told stories about the late-night searches to find a place for a child to stay after being removed from a home.
"Not every family situation is where it can open its home to foster kids," Sullivan said. "Don't ever let that be the reason you don't help, because there's all kinds of help and all kinds of ways available to help."
More information about Circle of Care can be found online at www.circleofcare.org or by calling Candice Ott at 918-916-4718.
