A Coalition of Churches Caring
What We Do
Our mission is to mobilize churches to care for vulnerable children and fragile families, positively impacting the trajectory of their lives.
The Church Takes Action by:
- Coordinating directly with agencies to support fragile families
- Focusing on connections not transactions
- Prayer
- Meals
- Encouragement
- Help around the house
- God calls us to care for orphans and vulnerable children. For some of us, that may mean opening our home as a foster, adoptive, or kinship family
Equipping Churches To Serve
Coalition of Care is a nonprofit bridge ministry focused on mobilizing churches to respond to God’s call to care for orphans & vulnerable children.
We partner with churches to establish a sustainable ministry that serves vulnerable children.
Churches are full of compassionate Christ-followers with compassion for vulnerable children. We partner with churches to mobilize, empower and train volunteers in the church to move beyond watching and worrying about the brokenness of our world, and instead to take action and have impact.
The Coalition shares processes that are proven best practices, and leverage those processes to provide easy on-ramps for church volunteers to serve and make a difference.
Meeting the needs of vulnerable children requires more than a single church effort. It requires a movement of churches, aligned to have greater impact. We believe that connecting 10% of the churches in any given community will trigger the tipping point, transitioning vulnerable children in that community from flailing to thriving.
So often our desire to help is relegated to a transaction, as we donate some stuff to “the poor”. But this creates risks of pride in the giver, and shame in the receiver. Instead, we believe that meaningful support involves relationships, and seek to build relational connection in every effort of caring for vulnerable children.
Churches are full of families who want to serve but aren’t sure how. And when serving opportunities are presented, families are often split up: dads/husbands serve in one mission, moms/wives serve somewhere else, teens serve in a 3rd mission, and younger kids in yet another. The Coalition energizes the whole church and entire families, from children to grandparents, to serve in relational, impactful ways.
Meet the Team
Amy Tuell
Amy began serving with Coalition of Care in 2015. The Lord brought her to full-time ministry through her years of leading mission teams caring for orphans in Mexico, with Back2Back Ministries. God grabbed her heart for vulnerable children, and she is ever so grateful He cleared a path for her to serve both them and Him right in her own backyard. Amy welcomes a conversation with your church – to explore joining this journey of caring for vulnerable children! She is blessed and honored to be a part of such a beautiful ministry and wants to specifically thank all of those who support her through prayer and financial donations, partnering with her in caring for His littlest ones!
- What is one random fact about yourself?
Amy is a leap year baby and, therefore, she is only 15 years old (at the time of this writing). She advises those of you who are blessed to have a birthday every year to not lament, nor take them for granted, but to celebrate each and every one of them with great gusto!
- Do you have any skills or talents that most people don’t know about?
Most folks don’t know this, but Amy can play a really mean kazoo!! Just ask her!
- What are you happiest doing in your spare time?
Amy enjoys going on long hikes, dancing at outdoor concerts, having her family home to visit, spending time with our Lord, and riding the grocery cart all the way from the store to her car!
- What is your motto or favorite Bible verse?
God has taught Amy that “problems in life will serve to make you either bitter or better” and it is within your control which one you choose. Her current favorite Bible verse is Psalm 62:6 “Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress; I will not be shaken.”
Julie Watson
Julie Watson has been with Coalition of Care since 2017. She has worked in the capacity of Office Manager as well as serving hands-on in many different areas of the ministry through her years on staff. As an adoptive mother she has a heart for making sure that children know they are loved and valued. Julie has been married to Randy for 32 years, Randy is a pastor at Branches Church in Loveland, OH, where together they lead the marriage ministry. Julie has four children ranging from 27 years of age to 16 years of age. Her two youngest are still at home and keeping her busy. Julie just welcomed her first grandson this year and is enjoying spending time with him daily as his caregiver.
- Who is someone you admire, and why?
My Mom, for lots of reasons. She has taught me to be strong and loyal, no matter what; and to love deeply and forgive easily!
- What’s a goal you have for yourself that you want to accomplish in the next year?
I would like to start a new podcast that I have been working on for the past year.
- What is one thing on your bucket list?
I tackled my fear of heights and became an avid rock climber, I want to climb out west on some of the bigger rocks.
- Favorite Bible verse/passage?
Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Jenny Ogbebor
Jenny joined Coalition of Care in 2017, excited to step into her lifelong dream of working in ministry. Coalition of Care has been a blessing in providing opportunities to serve in the areas she is passionate about and to grow in her giftings. Jenny gets most pumped up about inviting others into those serving opportunities, and witnessing God moving through them to impact the lives of vulnerable children in our city.
Jenny is loved well by a man she considers a miracle from God and is a mom to two busy teenagers. The entire family is head over heels for their newest addition, born in the fall of 2022. When she is not at work you can find her spending time with family and friends, or resting her mind in a quiet space.
- What is the strangest thing you've eaten?
Construction paper. It wasn't the tastiest, but I made 5 bucks.
- Who is someone you admire and why?
I find that I admire something in every person that I come to know. Everyone carries the image of God with them, and I love observing some of His traits in all of His masterpieces. I consider myself to be blessed to be surrounded by so many people who look so much like Jesus.
- Favorite (non-grocery) store to shop at?
I faintly hear my bank account cry any time I go near a Home Goods, Marshalls, or TJ Maxx.
- Favorite Bible verse/passage?
Psalm 63:7 NLT "Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings."
Chris Combs
Chris was invited to lead the ministry of Coalition of Care in 2010, and has been blessed for over a decade with innumerable opportunities to mobilize churches and Jesus-followers to respond to God’s mandate to care for orphans and vulnerable children. His journey included serving as a foster kinship dad, as a host dad, and as an adoptive dad.
After a crazy adoption journey, his son and daughter were officially adopted as pre-teen and teen. Despite the tumult of adolescence, childhood trauma, and parenting as a single dad, Chris and his kids love one another deeply. Chris has a heart of compassion and empathy, and a strong desire to serve vulnerable children as they fight to overcome trauma, injustice, and hurt.
- Who is someone you admire and why?
Someone I admire is Abraham Lincoln, who single-handedly preserved the United States as one country, despite the fervent opposition of the Confederacy, the frequent opposition of his Congress, his own Cabinet, and his own military generals. His family battled mental illness, his 12 year old son died in the White House in the midst of the Civil War, and he wrestled with his own mental health challenges. Despite such obstacles, he persevered, and saved the Union.
- What is the strangest thing you've eaten?
Mondongo – a soup containing animal stomach; I didn’t know what I was ordering, and I regretted it instantly.
- One place you want to travel to?
I love to travel, any time, any place. Put me in a car, train, plane or boat and send me anywhere. I really miss my time wandering across South Africa.
- Favorite Bible verse/passage?
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Meet The Board
Bill Locke
Board Chairperson
Vice President, Corporate Accounts & Marketing at Prasco
Alison Main
Board Secretary
Senior Director at Procter & Gamble
Chris Beard
Board Member
Lead Pastor at Peoples Church; City Servants Leadership Team
Louis Arnold
Board Member
Police Officer & Faith Based Liaison at Cincinnati Police Department
Dawn Merritt
Board Member
Beech Acres
Chris Combs
Board Member
Executive Director at Coalition of Care
Share Our Message
Our mission is to equip and mobilize churches to care for vulnerable children and fragile families, positively impacting the trajectory of their lives, before bad things happen, before a family is separated. These materials are available to help you and your church to pursue easy on-ramps to engagement.
This document describes three easy on-ramps for churches (meeting physical needs, providing wraparound support, welcoming a child) on the front side. On the back side, the document reveals HOW we partner with churches to establish sustainable ministry, and the specific steps to engage your church. Share it with anyone who has God’s heart for the orphan and vulnerable child.
This succinct video gives a sweeping overview of the challenges faced by vulnerable children in our local communities and the families who welcome them. A picture is painted about how the local church can help a family grow from overwhelmed to stable through your dedicated support. While not everyone is called to welcome a child into their home, everyone can do something in this journey of wraparound support. Together we can help vulnerable children to heal, grow, and belong.
This document combines key Biblical Scripture regarding God’s heart for orphans, as well as prayers relevant to this ministry that is near and dear to God’s heart. The reverse side describes three easy on-ramps for churches (meeting physical needs, providing wraparound support, welcoming a child), along with information for those who know of specific needs. Share with pastors, church leaders, and anyone with a heart for vulnerable children.
This document is specifically tailored to church pastors who recognize God’s mandate to care for orphans, and are searching for easy on-ramps to engage their church in the mandate. It describes three easy on-ramps for churches, the tangible steps needed to create a sustainable ministry in the church, and a specific guide to energize those inside the church. The reverse side provides space for pastors to jot down notes regarding the on-ramps that are relevant to their church and their circumstance.
To engage your church
and learn more,
contact us today.
Contact Us
Coalition of Care exists to equip and mobilize a coalition of churches to engage in God’s mandate to care for orphans and vulnerable children. Please contact us if you are a leader in a local Christian church, or if you are engaged at such a church and would like to help equip your church to care for vulnerable, marginalized children in your own community.
Cincinnati, OH 45242