Jerry Lee ALLRED, Jr.^[1]

• Name	Jerry Lee ALLRED  [2]
  Suffix	Jr.
  Gender	Male
  HIST	Executive director puts 'home' in 'children's home' JADE REYNOLDS / THE SUMTER ITEM Jerry Allred, executive director of the John K. Crosswell Home for Children, shows off some of the historical drawings of the place over the years. He has served in this capacity for five years. BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com (803) 774-1250 It's not just a job. It's a calling. Jerry Allred has served as the executive director of John K. Crosswell Home for Children for about five years. Before that, he worked at Epworth Children's Home in Columbia, and all together, he has 23 years experience in this field. "I truly believe that I'm called to do it," Allred said. "If the Lord calls you to a job, he'll give you the tools and the heart to do the job. We're all called to take care of others." He cites James 1:27, which states "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." The private, nonprofit is licensed for 40 children ages birth to 21 and employees about 20 full-time and part-time staff. Currently, it houses 32 children ranging from 8 months old to 16. The mission statement is "To enrich the quality of life for children and families by providing a safe and nurturing Christian community where a child's spiritual, physical, emotional, social and educational needs can be fully met." HOW DO CHILDREN COME TO CROSSWELL? We do work with DSS (Department of Social Services), so children are sometimes placed here after having been removed from a home for abuse or neglect. We get referrals from therapists, counselors, teachers, pastors and law enforcement. We also have children privately placed when a family is in crisis. We see a lot of drug and alcohol abuse and homelessness. When a mama is homeless, her baby is homeless. I firmly believe that parents do the best they can with what they have. Some make bad choices and have difficulty recovering. You're a product of how you were raised. So am I. So are all of us. It's a good reminder that all fall short and all need help at some time or other. DO YOU SEE MORE OF ANY ONE GENDER OR DEMOGRAPHIC? It's probably split about evenly between boys and girls and kind of a mix as far as race. Red, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. DO MOST OF THE CHILDREN COME FROM SUMTER? They come from all over the state. Right now we have children from Darlington, Dillon, Kershaw, Richland and Clarendon counties. Our biggest referral source is Darlington. WHY IS THAT? Our niche seems to be large sibling groups. Of our 32 children, 28 are in siblings groups. It can be tough to accommodate six children in one foster care home. DSS tries to keep them close to home if they can, but I also think they try to do what is in the best interest of the child. Some therapeutic homes may be outside the county. My hope, too, is when looking for placement, it's also about the relationship. I'm comfortable with you. I call you because you've done a good job in the past. WHAT DO CHILDREN DO WHILE THEY ARE HERE? Normal child activities — sports, summer camps, riding bikes, laughing, playing, studying, throwing sand, fussing. It's what kids do. They learn responsibility. They have chores. We work on daily living skills like cleaning up after yourself and hygiene. Most kids have their own room. A few rooms in each cottage can house two children, and we do that with some siblings. During the school year, they eat breakfast and lunch at school. During the week, we have a large, family-style dinner in our central kitchen. On the weekends, they eat in their home units. In the spring, we cook out a lot. SO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY LIVE ON CAMPUS? IS THAT DIFFICULT? My wife and two daughters — ages 12 and 9 — like living here. My daughters are very active with the kids. They go over to the girls cottage and play with them. Kids come over and watch movies. They join them on the playground, on the soccer field and at the swimming pool. We lived on campus at Epworth (Children's Home), too, so they're used to it. The balance can be tough sometimes. When I get home, I try to turn off "Mr. Jerry" and turn on "Daddy, Sweetheart, Honey." My wife is very supportive. She works part-time as the volunteer coordinator, and both our families have a history of helping. THEN IT'S NOT LIKE AN ORPHANAGE? Mr. Crosswell left his estate to the formation of an orphanage for Sumter County and to provide for religious training. A small child could grow up here and graduate from high school. It's different now. We're not an institution. I want folks to look at us as a home for children. We are raising children short term. We provide them with a safe, stable, loving and nurturing environment. We're providing opportunities for children to know they are loved and can have hope. We give the kids coping skills they need to go back home, and most of them do go back home. Hopefully the programs help the families make the adjustments they need to survive and thrive. We recognize we're not their home, and we'd never try to replace their families. I will say that a lot of times, the kids placed with us are fortunate. You don't have to look far to see families that need help anymore. We need to pick our neighbors up and help, not wait on a government group to do it. There are tons of agencies in Sumter that do help. This is just one. WHAT'S THE LONGEST A CHILD STAYED AND WHY? We had one stay for nearly four years. It can take time to find adoptive resources. Sometimes it's a lack of family resources. It could be the inability to recruit an adoptive home. It could be that the child is doing well in school and involved in the community. We don't want to move them for the sake of movement. It could be an older child or a child requiring additional resources. We've had some private placements stay for an extended period of time. They graduate high school here and transition to higher education. They may have a DSS placement and treatment plan, and it may depend on how much the family can accomplish. SO ONCE THEY LEAVE, DO YOU EVER SEE THE CHILDREN AGAIN? We have had some kids leave and come back. They may be placed by DSS with a family resource or in a home that didn't work out. Over a course of a few years, they might come back into care while the family tries to get on its feet. We still try to follow up with families and work with them in the home, especially around holidays. We want to see the child stable and doing well. SO CAN PEOPLE ADOPT CHILDREN FROM CROSSWELL? We've had several adopted since I've been here. We work with regional and state adoption agencies. I'm also the board chair for Palmetto Association for Children and Families. It's a membership agency of children homes and foster care agencies that work with state agencies. HOW CAN THE COMMUNITY HELP? We have a ton of support. We get volunteers from Shaw (Air Force Base), community associations, business and law enforcement. We've got a lot of college groups that volunteer. We have an ongoing wish list at crosswellhome.org. There are a lot of service projects such as painting and maintenance. We can always use gift cards and passes for activities. Gift cards are opportunities for the kids to get anything they want. Then anything you can think of for your home — laundry detergent, toilet paper — we go through a lot with four cottages and six to 11 kids in each. If we have a sibling group of six come in with just the clothing they are wearing, we have a closet with emergency needs, but they need all different sizes, and we don't always have that right away. A card is a convenient way to run and take care of that. Posted in Local news, News on Saturday, March 1, 2014  [2]
  HIST	Executive director puts 'home' in 'children's home' JADE REYNOLDS / THE SUMTER ITEM Jerry Allred, executive director of the John K. Crosswell Home for Children, shows off some of the historical drawings of the place over the years. He has served in this capacity for five years. BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com (803) 774-1250 It's not just a job. It's a calling. Jerry Allred has served as the executive director of John K. Crosswell Home for Children for about five years. Before that, he worked at Epworth Children's Home in Columbia, and all together, he has 23 years experience in this field. "I truly believe that I'm called to do it," Allred said. "If the Lord calls you to a job, he'll give you the tools and the heart to do the job. We're all called to take care of others." He cites James 1:27, which states "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." The private, nonprofit is licensed for 40 children ages birth to 21 and employees about 20 full-time and part-time staff. Currently, it houses 32 children ranging from 8 months old to 16. The mission statement is "To enrich the quality of life for children and families by providing a safe and nurturing Christian community where a child's spiritual, physical, emotional, social and educational needs can be fully met." HOW DO CHILDREN COME TO CROSSWELL? We do work with DSS (Department of Social Services), so children are sometimes placed here after having been removed from a home for abuse or neglect. We get referrals from therapists, counselors, teachers, pastors and law enforcement. We also have children privately placed when a family is in crisis. We see a lot of drug and alcohol abuse and homelessness. When a mama is homeless, her baby is homeless. I firmly believe that parents do the best they can with what they have. Some make bad choices and have difficulty recovering. You're a product of how you were raised. So am I. So are all of us. It's a good reminder that all fall short and all need help at some time or other. DO YOU SEE MORE OF ANY ONE GENDER OR DEMOGRAPHIC? It's probably split about evenly between boys and girls and kind of a mix as far as race. Red, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. DO MOST OF THE CHILDREN COME FROM SUMTER? They come from all over the state. Right now we have children from Darlington, Dillon, Kershaw, Richland and Clarendon counties. Our biggest referral source is Darlington. WHY IS THAT? Our niche seems to be large sibling groups. Of our 32 children, 28 are in siblings groups. It can be tough to accommodate six children in one foster care home. DSS tries to keep them close to home if they can, but I also think they try to do what is in the best interest of the child. Some therapeutic homes may be outside the county. My hope, too, is when looking for placement, it's also about the relationship. I'm comfortable with you. I call you because you've done a good job in the past. WHAT DO CHILDREN DO WHILE THEY ARE HERE? Normal child activities — sports, summer camps, riding bikes, laughing, playing, studying, throwing sand, fussing. It's what kids do. They learn responsibility. They have chores. We work on daily living skills like cleaning up after yourself and hygiene. Most kids have their own room. A few rooms in each cottage can house two children, and we do that with some siblings. During the school year, they eat breakfast and lunch at school. During the week, we have a large, family-style dinner in our central kitchen. On the weekends, they eat in their home units. In the spring, we cook out a lot. SO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY LIVE ON CAMPUS? IS THAT DIFFICULT? My wife and two daughters — ages 12 and 9 — like living here. My daughters are very active with the kids. They go over to the girls cottage and play with them. Kids come over and watch movies. They join them on the playground, on the soccer field and at the swimming pool. We lived on campus at Epworth (Children's Home), too, so they're used to it. The balance can be tough sometimes. When I get home, I try to turn off "Mr. Jerry" and turn on "Daddy, Sweetheart, Honey." My wife is very supportive. She works part-time as the volunteer coordinator, and both our families have a history of helping. THEN IT'S NOT LIKE AN ORPHANAGE? Mr. Crosswell left his estate to the formation of an orphanage for Sumter County and to provide for religious training. A small child could grow up here and graduate from high school. It's different now. We're not an institution. I want folks to look at us as a home for children. We are raising children short term. We provide them with a safe, stable, loving and nurturing environment. We're providing opportunities for children to know they are loved and can have hope. We give the kids coping skills they need to go back home, and most of them do go back home. Hopefully the programs help the families make the adjustments they need to survive and thrive. We recognize we're not their home, and we'd never try to replace their families. I will say that a lot of times, the kids placed with us are fortunate. You don't have to look far to see families that need help anymore. We need to pick our neighbors up and help, not wait on a government group to do it. There are tons of agencies in Sumter that do help. This is just one. WHAT'S THE LONGEST A CHILD STAYED AND WHY? We had one stay for nearly four years. It can take time to find adoptive resources. Sometimes it's a lack of family resources. It could be the inability to recruit an adoptive home. It could be that the child is doing well in school and involved in the community. We don't want to move them for the sake of movement. It could be an older child or a child requiring additional resources. We've had some private placements stay for an extended period of time. They graduate high school here and transition to higher education. They may have a DSS placement and treatment plan, and it may depend on how much the family can accomplish. SO ONCE THEY LEAVE, DO YOU EVER SEE THE CHILDREN AGAIN? We have had some kids leave and come back. They may be placed by DSS with a family resource or in a home that didn't work out. Over a course of a few years, they might come back into care while the family tries to get on its feet. We still try to follow up with families and work with them in the home, especially around holidays. We want to see the child stable and doing well. SO CAN PEOPLE ADOPT CHILDREN FROM CROSSWELL? We've had several adopted since I've been here. We work with regional and state adoption agencies. I'm also the board chair for Palmetto Association for Children and Families. It's a membership agency of children homes and foster care agencies that work with state agencies. HOW CAN THE COMMUNITY HELP? We have a ton of support. We get volunteers from Shaw (Air Force Base), community associations, business and law enforcement. We've got a lot of college groups that volunteer. We have an ongoing wish list at crosswellhome.org. There are a lot of service projects such as painting and maintenance. We can always use gift cards and passes for activities. Gift cards are opportunities for the kids to get anything they want. Then anything you can think of for your home — laundry detergent, toilet paper — we go through a lot with four cottages and six to 11 kids in each. If we have a sibling group of six come in with just the clothing they are wearing, we have a closet with emergency needs, but they need all different sizes, and we don't always have that right away. A card is a convenient way to run and take care of that. Posted in Local news, News on Saturday, March 1, 2014
  _UID	C4E6B394C3214C70B2AC47D5DDDB5292A7D1
  _UID	C4E6B394C3214C70B2AC47D5DDDB5292A7D1
  Person ID	I290972	Singleton and Related Families
  Last Modified	27 Nov 2023

  
  

  Family	Unknown
  _UID	2FEB242CDD284A12B83F569E988A1A9E90E6
  _UID	2FEB242CDD284A12B83F569E988A1A9E90E6
  Children	1. Living   2. Living
  Family ID	F195241	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	1 Mar 2014

  
  

• Sources

  [S31410] Debutantes - The Trian Club. [S20655] Executive director puts ‘home’ in ‘children’s home’.