Tennessee Action Council: Ministry for At-Risk Children is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, partnering with pregnancy centers, and is comprised of two divisions: Helping Hands and Project Life, both focused on children and families.

Jacquelin McDonald, Tennessee Action Council Board President, comments: “Being involved with this ministry, knowing my efforts are truly helping women in need, saving the lives of innocent children, surrounding and helping families stay together, and maintaining the dignity and worth of traumatized children is truly God honoring work. Please join TAC in serving our community.”

Helping Hands

Tom Thompson, Tennessee Action Council Board member and Chairman of Voices for the Unspoken, a dinner event benefiting Helping Hands, says, “Helping Hands: It’s why God gave them to us.” Tom and the supporters of this organization take action to demonstrate compassion for at-risk children.

Helping Hands provides

• New, attractive, duffle bags placed in the hands of children entering the foster care system via the Department of Children’s Services
• Duffie bags help with the child’s transition during traumatic times

Children in Tennessee-9,100 of them in the foster care system typically enter a traumatic and emotional experience when they leave their homes and go into foster care. Helping Hands meets the needs of families with children at risk of being removed from their homes by protecting the dignity of the children and respect for their personal belongings. No longer must children drag around in black garbage bags the little they have. The goal? Help children feel they and their belongings are valued, not thrown into garbage bags like trash. Children feel more normal and stable- having something of their own, sometimes for the first time in their lives-when they come into custody, and later if they move from one placement to another. The attractive, new, compartmentalized duffel helps them better transition to their next opportunity and placement and confirms appreciation for their developing lives.