By Alex Tindal Wiesendanger
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
We heard those words on Friday as we reflected on Jesus’ death. I’ve heard them every Good Friday of my life, but this year—my first as the director of Safe Families for Children—they struck me differently. I realized that this is the same cry echoing from parents across our city: a cry of those who feel they have nowhere to turn, no one to help, and no way to keep their families whole.
Even today, on Easter Sunday, 10 children in our city will be removed from their homes. They will be taken by strangers and placed into the New York City foster care system, joining over 6,400 children already in care. Once in the system, these children face a significantly higher risk of homelessness, mental health crises, and incarceration.
Heartbreakingly, three-quarters of these children were not victims of abuse. They were removed because their parents—often doing their absolute best—were poor, isolated, and facing a crisis alone. In their desperation, they were calling out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
One month into my role, a mother shared a voicemail that she had saved for five years. Back then, she was at her lowest point—jobless, facing homelessness, and spiraling into despair—events that can often trigger the placement of children into the foster care system. Through her tears, she searched for help online and found Safe Families. She received a call the next day. That is the message she refuses to delete.
She was matched with a Circle of Support—church volunteers who provided the kind of family-like care that was needed. Through a community that lived the reality of the Resurrection, this mother began to experience her own. Her family spent Christmas at a volunteer’s home, finally finding the space to breathe. With that support, they slowly rebuilt their lives. The volunteer told me that her own children never had a more authentic experience of Christmas than they did that year.
Today, there is no traumatic city record of separation for that family. Instead, there is resurrection—not just a restoration of the old life, but the beginning of a new one. That mother is now a Safe Families volunteer herself. Every month, she and her husband donate $10 to this ministry. Like the widow’s mite in Scripture, it is my favorite gift to receive.
Safe Families launched in New York City 10 years ago because of Hope For New York. We have learned that God shows up when the church answers those cries in the night. When we walk alongside a family and hold their hand through the struggle, God opens doors to healing for us all.
I want to thank the volunteers who show up every day, and thank the generosity that allows Hope For New York to empower ministries like ours. Most of all, I thank God for the grace that multiplies our small efforts into a miracle of hope for our city.
