Locals in Movie About Foster Care to Appear at Screening

According to the Texas Department of Family and Protective services, “when children can’t live safely at home, CPS tries to find relatives and family friends who can provide stability while the children can’t live with their parents. If no one can be found, the court can give temporary legal custody to CPS, who then places the children in foster care.” In the state of Texas during the month of September, there were 9,796 children aged 0-17 in foster care. There are often not enough foster families in a county to place the children locally.

This means on top of the trauma children experienced causing them to leave their home, they are often uprooted and moved to completely different counties and schools.

In Fayette County, there are currently no foster families. This means 100% of children placed in foster care are moved from our county. “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” is a 2024 film based on the moving truestory of what a small community in East Texas did to combat this problem. Starting in 1996, Rev. WC Martin and his wife, Donna, began a movement that resulted in the adoption of 77 children by their 22-family congregation of Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Possum Trot, TX. Some of these adopted children are now grown and live in La Grange with their families. On Sunday, November 10 at 5 p.m., La Grange Church of Christ will host a community-wide free screening of the film, “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.” The screening will be followed by a brief Q&APanel of locals who are part of this story as well as people who are involved in the foster care system.