TYLER, Texas — Texas continues to face a foster care crisis.
Every day, children are being brought into the system and removed from homes where they are not safe.
An East Texas woman wants to provide comfort for these children during their time of crisis.
"We would really need the support from our community and volunteerism," Mary Jo Burgess, executive director for CASA for Children said.
Jeannie Ebnet founded Blankets of Comfort Ministries to help children who’ve experienced trauma.
"By trade, I'm a nurse," Ebnet said. "There was a patient that I took care of on a routine basis that was a CPS worker. Over the years that I had worked with her, she would tell me stories about the children that she would have to investigate and remove."
That passion is leading her to start a new ministry aimed at helping children who are in foster care.
She is making blankets for children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.
It’s a small token of comfort.
But, it can mean the world to a child in a new and unfamiliar setting.
"So how many kids are we talking about? A couple 100?" Ebnet said. "In the worst year before the pandemic a number of 20,000 children removed in the state of Texas."
Spokesperson Shari Pulliam for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said, “When children are removed from their homes, due to abuse/neglect they often leave with nothing! Having something of comfort like a nice warm blanket can make all the difference to them in that first night away from their homes.”
CASA for Children works with these kids first-hand.
"By our community reaching out, helping that child, making them feel secure, fulfilling those basic needs," Burgess said. "We can start working on the harder part, the recovery from the trauma, the rebuilding trust with the adults, and moving towards a better future."
Jeannie focuses on the future, while she faces a fight with cancer.
She was diagnosed with oral cancer in 2011.
"I would never be free of cancer and my prognosis for our five year lifespan was very, very poor," Ebnet said.
But she plans on seeing this mission through until it spreads across the entire state.
"If I'm going to die, I'm gonna do what I enjoy doing, which is sewing," Ebnet said. "Once you get one thing started in one place, it's going to occur other places. I know it is because this is not me. This is not my heart. It's not my ministry. God is the one who told me, Jesus himself."
If you want to help this new ministry you can visit their website.