Pushpay and The Potter’s House helped the children of incarcerated parents enjoy a festive holiday season
The Potter’s House is a non-denominational church in Fort Worth, Texas with 2,000 members. They work together all year round to help others in the community and across the world feel the love of Christ. But during the holiday season, their efforts take on a very special focus.
Every December, The Potter’s House helps incarcerated parents and grandparents restore and strengthen relationships with their children and families by partnering with an unexpected source: the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department and local businesses. Together, they provide Christmas gifts for children on behalf of incarcerated parents and grandparents. Most of the church is transformed during this time into “Christmas stores” where children can choose gifts on their Wish Lists with the help of “Santa’s helpers and elves.”
“People just need to feel loved and cared for. This event gives us an opportunity to serve a sector of the community that rarely is thought of; the children of those who are incarcerated,” said The Potter’s House Director of Community Outreach Tiffany Brinkley.
Not only does this program help restore family relationships, it also helps change the children’s perspectives of the police who may have taken their family members away.
“Our prayer is that the takeaway from this program is not only that these kids are not forgotten and that somebody cares about them and they’re going to have a good Christmas, but they also see law enforcement in that position of being a friend, being someone that is giving, somebody that is there for them to help them out through a tough time,” said Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn.
This past December, with the help of Toys for Tots, fundraising, and other local sponsorships, The Potter’s House provided over 3,500 gifts for 513 children, from babies to teenagers. Children and families are also offered other resources like social services, health and wellness, education, mental health, home buying or rental programs, and financial assistance.
Pushpay’s church management solution (ChMS) played a big part in making this program a reality. Pushpay is a faith tech company that provides solutions for giving, apps, ChMS and video streaming to the faith sector. The Potter’s House uses Pushpay’s ChMS to register families for gifts and Sign Up sheets for givers.
Pushpay further supported this program by making a $1,500 donation to the local Dallas Fort Worth Toys for Tots, from which a large majority of the gifts are sourced.
“Generosity isn’t just a talking point. It’s really who Pushpay is, and it comes from this deep commitment—together we build community,“ said Pushpay Senior Vice President of Customer Success Maria Blakeway.
The Potter’s House hopes to inspire other churches and nonprofits to host and partner with local sheriff departments to support the program in their own communities.
Shanda Boyett is the Director of Corporate Marketing for Pushpay. For more information about how we’re working with churches to build community and inspire generosity, visit us here.
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