Jonah’s Journey Research

Intro

Jonah’s Journey serves as an alternative to state foster care for the children of women in prison.

These mothers are presented with a unique opportunity to place their child with a caregiver family without losing custody of their child. The staff at Jonah’s Journey staff and caregiver families use this unique opportunity to build a relationship with the mother and the child through the remainder of her prison sentence and after she is released. Jonah’s Journey is named after Jonah, the first Jonah’s Journey baby. Since then the organization has successfully reunited over 100 families. It has been under the umbrella of Palmer Home for Children since 2014.

Primary Research

Interview with Susan Moffit, Jonah’s Journey director
Interview with Susan Bohannon, Jonah’s Journey caregiver
Interview with Alex Tubbs, mother of a Jonah’s Journey baby

Secondary Research

Key words searched using Google, Yahoo, Yelp and Bing:

Jonah’s Journey
Jonah’s Journey Nashville
Jonah’s Journey nonprofit
Jonah’s Journey Press
Jonah’s Journey Lawsuits
Palmer Home for Children (Mississippi)
Palmer Home for Children Press
Palmer Home (for children) Lawsuits

Social Media:

Twitter: (@jonahsjourney) has 206 followers and 965 tweets. The organization last posted in January of 2020.
Facebook: (Jonah’s Home for Children, @jonahsjourneyministry) has 3,063 likes and 3,074 followers. The most recent post on it’s Facebook page is from July 16, 2020. Jonah’s Journey averages posting 1-4 times a month on its Facebook page.
Instagram: (@jonahsjourney) has 326 followers. The organization’s Instagram seems to display almost identical content as their Facebook page. The organization is not utilizing hashtags. The latest post on Instagram was posted at the end of June.

Legacy Media:

palmerhome.org
jonahsjourney.org
djournal.com
Memphis Business Journal
charitynavigator.org
AP News
Tennessean

Public Records:

Public case files via casetext.com
Better Business Bureau
cafo.org
IRS – Jonah’s Journey located under Palmer Home
Guidestar – under Palmer Home

Research Results

Background:

Jonah’s Journey began in 2005 with Jesse, an incarcerated woman who was pregnant. The prison chaplain connected Jesse with Leallison Whittinghill, a woman who wanted to care for baby Jonah during Jesse’s prison sentence. Since then, Jonah’s Journey has reconnected over 100 kids with their moms. In 2019, 19 children were reunited with their mothers, with strategic advertising the numbers could skyrocket.

Through her experience of fostering Jonah and visiting women’s prisons, Leallison realized that state-run foster care was the only option for women who gave birth in prison. Leallison started meeting with pregnant mothers who were incarcerated to help them find safe, healthy homes for their children. The caregiver’s goal is to maintain positive connections between the mother and child throughout the remainder of her sentence.

Kelly, a Jonah’s Journey caregiver, explains that she wants to give hope to incarcerated mothers so that “when they get out, they can be reunited with their family and break the cycle of brokenness.” That’s what Jonah’s Journey was created to do — to break the cycle of brokenness and restore the lives of others.

There are over 2.7 million American children with incarcerated parents. To break the cycle, something needs to change. Jonah’s Journey families are stepping up to ease these children’s transition and giving them hope, love and the Gospel.

Brandy’s Story published in the 2019 Impact Report:

Inmate Brandy was facing an impossible decision: should she place her newborn son LaQuan with Jonah’s Journey? The family care program offered a home and caregivers to love and care for her baby and promised to return him to her once she completed her prison sentence. It seemed too good to be true. Brandy said although she had heard amazing stories from other mothers with children being cared for by Jonah’s Journey, she was terrified to trust. She had been let down so many times in her life. Why would this be different?

“I prayed a lot,” she said. “It was more God leading me to dive in.”

“It was the hardest decision of my life, but definitely the best.”

Brandy was paired with Cindy Goodard, who was trained and certified to become a caregiver just a few months before LaQuan was born.

The two met multiple times before Brandy made her official decision.

Both women credit getting to know each other in those meetings as the beginning of their friendship.

“I came home, and I wrote her a long note,” Cindy said. “I told her about my family and sent her their pictures because I knew they would be involved. Brandy told me later that she wasn’t sure, but seeing those pictures, she felt like this was going to work out.” For Brandy, she was concerned about still being able to see her son. Cindy made promises to make sure that happened, and Cindy delivered.

“She never missed a visit,” Brandy said. “I went through post-partum depression, but knowing [LaQuan] was coming every weekend kept me going. Getting pictures and being able to call and check on him – it was amazing knowing I could still have contact with him. I knew I made the right decision.”

Cindy cared for LaQuan a little over a year as Brandy completed her prison sentence, followed by time in a transition house after her release. During that time, Cindy would pick Brandy up to spend time with LaQuan.

“She would go to church with us and was highly involved in his life,” Cindy said. “That’s the goal. That’s what you want.” Keeping the bond between mother and child is one of the most critical aspects of the work family care does. Dedicated caseworkers ensure that a cohesive relationship between mother, child and caregiver is possible.

“I would tell anyone considering Jonah’s Journey that it would be their greatest decision.”

Once Brandy was released, the two families gradually merged into one. Cindy still cares for LaQuan during the week while Brandy works. Brandy recently married her longtime boyfriend, and Cindy helped Brandy choose a wedding dress, and Cindy’s brother walked Brandy down the aisle.

“They are amazing,” Brandy said. “I know it’s God helping them pick these caregivers because there’s no way they could pick so many perfect ones alone. I am highly blessed.”

Partnering with Palmer Home – 2014

In 2014, Jonah’s Journey partnered with Palmer Home for Children. Palmer Home, which is located in Mississippi was given land in the Nashville area that was donated with the intention to be used for orphan care. The man that came up to view the property was connected with Jonah’s Journey as a caregiver and this granted them more funding as well as more access to training. Jonah’s Journey ministry provides nurturing care for the infants of mothers in prison. Additionally, it provides support to mothers in prison and after release. With reunification as the ultimate goal, Jonah’s Journey’s certified foster families work to cultivate the bond between the mother and child in their care.

Jonah’s Journey is privately funded, however the organization is licensed and audited by the state. The organization also receives state-approved training. Eventually, Jonah’s Journey would love to expand its ministry through providing a living space and networking with other local businesses in Tennessee to further help moms get back on their feet when they are released from prison. This largely depends on donations and networking opportunities.

The feedback on Jonah’s Journey is mostly positive, however there were several public case files — Jaylan W., Neveah, Raeshad — that showed that the birth mothers had some conflict with their child’s caregiving family. In Raeshad’s case, the birth mother did not hold down a job, moved from Nashville to Memphis, and frequently did not show up to visitations with her son. The court case was a long process, but eventually the caregiving family was given full guardianship and the mother was allowed to visit.

Cases like this are to be expected, however it is the hope of Jonah’s Journey that if the mother should relapse or something else happen to her that the child will go back to the caregiving family because of the relationship the organization and caregiver family have with mother and child.

Jonah’s Journey Director:

Susan Moffit, the director for Jonah’s Journey, has a master’s degree in social work. In her interview she remarked that she has worked with foster care for over 25 years. She remembers in particular, one girl who forever changed her heart toward foster care. Moffit fostered this older teen girl over a decade ago.

She has remained in contact with her and the girl has lived with Moffit and her family several times since then. The girl is now a mom herself and still maintains a relationship with Moffitt. Moffit made a comment that this girl is the one who opened her eyes to the need of foster care that builds and maintains a healthy relationship to successfully implement change. When the opportunity arose to become the director for Jonah’s Journey back in 2014, she readily agreed.

She reported that Jonah’s Journey has always been about the smaller conversations and word of mouth marketing. Because of her work with foster care prior to Jonah’s Journey, she knows there is a great need of more families in Child Protective Services. Even though Jonah’s Journey has a need for more families, and has been impacted by COVID-19, she does not want to compete by marketing to the same audiences as CPS.

Moffit’s dream is that eventually Jonah’s Journey will have a transitional living program, job program and local business partners that are willing to work with the incarcerated mothers when they are released from prison. It is incredibly difficult for a released prisoner to get a job when they are released from prison.

Many of the Jonah’s Journey Mothers are felons, or have had severe charges for dealing or using drugs. This dream program will further help the mothers get back on their feet and put a bigger separation between their old and new life.

Funding:

Jonah’s Journey, part of Palmer Home receives all of it’s donations from private benefactors. 36% of it’s funding comes from individual donations, 14% from investments, 13% from foundations, 11% from businesses, 8% from churches, 7% from estates, 6% from events and 5% from their thrift store.

Jonah’s Journey has donors from 42 states.

“Before Palmer Home, I found myself in a place of reluctant giving. Then, God put it on my heart to give to Palmer Home. And for the first time, I knew what it felt like to cheerfully give a monetary donation. When I see that debit from my account each month, it makes me smile, knowing that I am doing my small part to change the life of a child,” said Natalie Morgan-Underwood, a donor from Starkville, Mississippi.

Location and Target Market:

Right now Jonah’s Journey is primarily in Nashville, although there are a few families that are caregivers in Mississippi (the location of Palmer Home). Jonah’s Journey relies heavily on word-of-mouth advertising from its current caregiving families and from the mothers and chaplains that the organization works with in prison. Because of COVID-19, the mandated social distancing has severely hurt their word-of-mouth advertising. Jonah’s Journey desperately need more families to step up to be caregivers and the organization needs a more consistent way to get the word out about its ministry.

Communication:

The organization has a consistent, monthly newsletter that it sends out to subscribers, supporters and caregiving families. However, Jonah’s Journey is not fully utilizing its social media presence. The organization is fairly inactive on its social media. Most have not been touched since June. Jonah’s Journey and Palmer Home mostly communicates through its website. It is there that visitors will find a financial and impact report, calendar of events, history of Palmer Home, the various ministries and opportunities.

Jonah’s Journey has participated in several neat events with groups like the Nashville Sounds. The organization even received national exposure when it was featured on ABC’s “20/20” in February of 2015. A woman known as “Tuesday” shared her experience after she gave birth to her now 2-year-old son Whitten when she was at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville.

Message:

The organization needs to be broadly advertised across Mississippi and Tennessee. It could be shared through various churches, ministries and with Christian bloggers, influencers, singers, etc. Jonah’s Journey needs to focus primarily on Nashville, Tennessee, but could also begin to expand to the surrounding cities and states. Jonah’s Journey could also be shared through Christian radio, websites, newsletters and organizations.

Because Jonah’s Journey is a Christian organization, their message should contain the fact that it is faith based and focused on giving hope through sharing the gospel and loving both the child and the mom. The organization’s goal is to break the destructive cycle for both incarcerated mothers and their children. The key message and media kits should contain background information, the story of Jonah and LeAllison, current needs and ways to plug in and make a difference. The organization should also provide key points and media that others can easily share.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

A unique take on foster care
One of the only non-profits that focuses on building a relationship with the mother and child
Host several well attended events
Privately funded, audited by the state
Jonah’s Journey is well received by the women in prison
They have successfully reunited over 100 kids with their moms since their first child, Jonah.
Impact report published and easily accessible on their website
Regular communicate with sponsors and caregivers through a newsletter
Joined with Palmer Home back in 2014, this gives them more access to funding

Weaknesses:

Not much publicity, they heavily rely on word of mouth “advertising”
No campaign plan to grow
Inactive on social media
Lack caregiver families (probably due to lack of advertising)
Website is hard to search – hard to determine what is Palmer Home and what is Jonah’s Journey

Opportunities:

Expansion opportunities — to other states
Tons of advertising opportunities
Could connect with other local businesses etc to possibly build bridges/connections for more jobs when the mothers get out of prison
Huge need for this kind of ministry!
They are a Christian ministry, lots of churches in the Nashville area
Could also advertise through other Christian sites (i.e. Challies, International Mission Board (IMB), Together for the Gospel etc)
Could connect with likeminded ministries in the area (Show Hope, 5 by 5 Agency, LifeSong for Orphans)

Threats:

Several other foster care non-profits in the Nashville area
CPS
Lack of advertising
Inactive social media
Not enough caregiver families
Heavily rely on word of mouth advertising, this could greatly harm exposure

Summary

Jonah’s Journey is providing a unique alternative for moms who are expecting in prison. They no longer have to choose the state funded foster care. I could see Jonah’s Journey expanding to other states and, with the right PR campaign, I could see Susan’s dream of having a transitional living program on property for newly released moms. Since 2005, Jonah’s Journey has successfully reunited over 100 children with their mothers. They are caring for the child and the mother, which is different than most (if not all) foster care options. Unlike CPS, Jonah’s Journey’s goal is reunification and they work with the mother’s to help them find hope and break the destructive cycle.

Jonah’s Journey is providing several different dinners, fundraisers and informational meetings and have adapted fairly well in light of COVID-19. However, I still think there is more opportunity for growth. There are plenty of opportunities to expand in Tennessee and in the surrounding states. Through utilizing their connections, coming up with a strategic plan and a campaign, there is a lot of room for growth in the next five to ten years.

Jonah’s Journey could better capitalize on its connections, plan out itssocial media as well as connect with other Christian agencies, websites and bloggers that would be interested in their cause such as: Steven Curtis Chapman, The Gospel Coalition, Challies, LifeSong for Orphans, Show Hope, 5 by 5 Agency, Joanna Gaines, Meghan Tucker and others.

The organization is heavily relying on word of mouth advertising, because it does not want to take away from CPS since CPS desperately needs more foster families. I think that Jonah’s Journey aids in CPS, as there are many who would become a caregiving family through Jonah’s Journey that may never consider CPS.

Overall, I think there are a lot of opportunities for growth through strategy, intentional advertising, social media and connections and I’m excited to see where this project takes me over the next several months.

Sources:

Key Words:

Jonah’s Journey:

https://cafo.org/member/jonahs-journey/

Expands to Mississippi: https://mschristianliving.com/2017/columns/lagniappe-jonahs-journey/

Joe and Meghan Tucker’s story: https://longhollow.com/story/easter-offering-jonahs-journey/

National Exposure: https://www.wkrn.com/tag/jonahs-journey/