Mission Statement
“Building stronger families to make for strong communities”
Vision
Lifted Higher Ministries was founded upon the desire to plant seeds of love into the biological parent’s lives that have children in foster care or are at risk of going into care. We strongly believe that not only are foster children important to sow into, but their birth parents as well. We do this through our Parent Support Program. We also believe that the elderly deserve to live prosperous lives and are not to be forgotten. We serve them through our Adult Protective Services Program. We strive to put our hands to work for God and His Glory, follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and act out His LOVE! We believe all the programs and services we implement in this ministry will do just that. Relationship Building, Life Doing!
Ephesians 4:28 “working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”
Ephesians 4:28 “working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”
Relationship Building, Life Doing
We are called to do life together. God created us for relationship with Him and we are to imitate God. People need people. Not everyone is born into a good family. Even though Jesus came to set us free from generational curses, there are many people out there still walking in those curses. It is what they were brought up in and it is what they know. Our God is a God of reconciliation. We want to aid in reunifying as many families as possible. By restoring a parent to their child, we are restoring a generation. Boundaries YES! Those are needed and biblical. It is our mission to work with our hands what is good (Ephesians 4:28), in hopes that these people see God through us, to live well raising families well. We help create a healthy support system so that they do not go back to what is familiar. We love people by giving grace, meeting them where they are at, and delivering truth so they can be set free. We are able to start building this relationship and trust through our Parent Support Program services.
Current Programs & Services
- Parent Support Program - Mentoring through our supervised visits and transportation services: This is a program that DHR and the courts utilize when DHR or the Judge orders visits to be supervised. We oversee the visit utilizing approved, screened, FBI fingerprinted, and background checked volunteers. We use local partnering churches to have the visits. The other service we offer through this program is transportation. In the Dothan area alone, there are over 4000 people without their own transportation. It is through these services where we can guide and build a relationship by mentoring the mothers and fathers. We used evidence-based curriculum to guide and lead these parents to a better way of life. It is here that we can start to build trust and relationship with them. Mentoring birth mothers and fathers (when they are involved) includes, but is not limited to, helping these moms and dads do everyday life. “Relationship Building, Life Doing!" We believe strong families make strong communities. Some examples are transporting and taking these parents to appointments like the WIC office, DHR, the grocery store, the pharmacy, the doctors, the library, etc. In 2023 we drove over 99,818 miles. If led we may even purchase the groceries or pay for a doctor visit or dental procedure, etc. We keep in contact with these parents to encourage them and see how their week is going. We lift them up and help them build confidence. We sit across the table from them and share a meal or coffee. We encourage them and guide them in finding a job and permanent housing if needed. We help furnish the home once they secure a safe living environment. We invite and transport them to church. If they have an area of need and we can fill it or help instruct them on how they can, we do. We come alongside them to do life together. We also continue our relationships with parents and foster children post-foster care. Once a parent has been a part of our PSP or Mentoring Program, we do not just say "see you later" once they get reunified with their children. They still need a good support system which many of them do not have. Once you are our friend, you are always our friend. For this program we do all the things listed above plus some. The awesome thing about this program is that we roll with the punches which is what doing life with someone is about. This allows us to meet the parents where they are and help where it is needed and deserved. We strive to teach and not enable so that they can have a successful life raising their children.
- Partner with other local agencies - Working together to complete a mission instead of recreating the wheel or spinning wheels doing the same thing another organization already does. Some of the local agencies we partner with include DHR, CASA, The Harbor, Fostering Hope, SARCOA, The Ark & other community organizations. We are a referral-based agency with the majority of our referrals coming from DHR.
- Housing opportunities - We assist in helping find affordable housing that the parent/parents can qualify for by providing different resource options for the parent/parents to make efforts at obtaining a safe living environment. This is a must for reunification. Once a home is secured, we help furnish the home. We have given beds, washers and dryers, kitchen tables, towels, sheets, couches, etc. We also have one home that LHM has purchased specifically for a family we have worked with that has a 7-year rent-to-own contract with us. November 2022, we purchased house #2 that is a rental for people that have a hard time obtaining safe housing.
- Birthday Meals - One of the hardest things for these parents is missing birthdays and holidays with their children. We do birthday meals for the birth parents, birthday child and siblings (an approved volunteer attends) at a restaurant that we choose together. We usually give them some options and let them pick. If possible, they bring the birthday dessert which brings them much joy, and we pick up the tab. If needed we transport the birth parents and children. Sometimes the birthday meal may be just with the siblings if the parents are not currently involved.
- Adult Protective Services Transportation & Mentoring Program - DHR, SARCOA and other local organizations reach out to us when an elderly person does not have resources to help in their areas of needs like medical appointment assistance, transportation, grocery shopping, errand running, etc. We come along side these adults and fellowship with them and love on them in hopes that they can live as independently as possible while still being safe. We become a trusted person for them to have in their life. If there is an area of need that we can help with, we are glad to, and if we cannot, we will do our best to find a resource that can.
Scripture Guidelines
Ephesians 4:28 working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the world. Walk as children of light.
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.”
Matthew 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 10:7-8 “And as you go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”
Matthew 18:11-14 “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”
Luke 6:31-33 “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.”
Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the world. Walk as children of light.
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.”
Matthew 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 10:7-8 “And as you go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”
Matthew 18:11-14 “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”
Luke 6:31-33 “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.”
Partnering Organizations
DHR
SARCOA
CASA
The Harbor
Hope Rising
City Hope (Previously Known as Fostering Hope)
Wiregrass Hope Group
The Ark
Church at the Crossing
Cornerstone Church
Evergreen Presbyterian Church
Bethlehem Baptist Church Headland
SARCOA
CASA
The Harbor
Hope Rising
City Hope (Previously Known as Fostering Hope)
Wiregrass Hope Group
The Ark
Church at the Crossing
Cornerstone Church
Evergreen Presbyterian Church
Bethlehem Baptist Church Headland
Needs-Based Mentoring
Based off of research published by The Chronicles of Evidence Based Mentoring November 2, 2023/in Mentoring Research, New Mentoring Research /by Saniya Soni www.evidencebasedmentoring.org
The majority of the parents and elderly we work with are considered at-risk. For the parents we work with this stems from being in poverty, past childhood trauma/upbringing, lack of basic living resources and lack of stable support system. For the elderly it is lack of family support and stage of life. The following approach consists of five key elements.
NBM Elements:
Implications for Mentoring
Through use of these elements, particularly the strategies embedded in them such as continuous assessment and evidence based strategies, NBM works as a strengths-based approach emphasizing mentor and mentee collaboration, focusing on the quality of the mentoring relationship. Importantly, NBM focuses around the involvement of LHM’s Parent Support Program and APS Program as mentors; our volunteers have helping experience that can be uniquely effective for supporting this at-risk population. For best practice the authors in the sited evidence-based research recommend 6-8 hours of professional development a year in specific skills and techniques. Typically, LHM spends that much time in 1-3 months with the population for whom it works. Overall, NBM lays the foundation for a strengths-focused and evidence-based approach to needs-based mentoring that has the potential to increase positive outcomes for this at-risk population.
- Engage: (building rapport and trust). Engage is built of the components supporting mentee autonomy, positive communication, attunement (knowing what a mentee’s needs are at a given time), and celebrating success; affirmations.
- Teach: (providing skill instruction). Teach’s components are to provide instruction, scaffolding (creating steps of learning) and modeling.
- Structure: (data-driven decision-making around goal setting). The components in this element are identify missing skills, goal setting with the mentee, collect and review relevant data (for example: reports ISP accomplishments), collaborative problem solving with the mentee and other supports, and data-based decision making.
- Advocate: (supporting parents and the elderly through the use of finding outside support). The components here are community resources that LHM has partnerships and relationships with, and follow-up (check-ins with the mentee and other supports).
- Assess: ( Continuous evaluation throughout all elements to assess mentee needs ). Here the components are a needs assessment, quality of mentoring relationships, and behavior change.
Implications for Mentoring
Through use of these elements, particularly the strategies embedded in them such as continuous assessment and evidence based strategies, NBM works as a strengths-based approach emphasizing mentor and mentee collaboration, focusing on the quality of the mentoring relationship. Importantly, NBM focuses around the involvement of LHM’s Parent Support Program and APS Program as mentors; our volunteers have helping experience that can be uniquely effective for supporting this at-risk population. For best practice the authors in the sited evidence-based research recommend 6-8 hours of professional development a year in specific skills and techniques. Typically, LHM spends that much time in 1-3 months with the population for whom it works. Overall, NBM lays the foundation for a strengths-focused and evidence-based approach to needs-based mentoring that has the potential to increase positive outcomes for this at-risk population.
Testimonials
Testimony from one of our AWESOME VOLUNTEERS!
My experience begins with the first person, Brandee Lukas with Lifted Higher Ministries, when she asked me to help one of the elderly ladies. When Brandee contacted me and asked if I would be willing to grocery shop for Ms. M because she was home bound, I was totally on board and I admit, just a little nervous. Thankfully the process was pretty simple. First I called Ms. M and introduced myself. I explained to her that I would be shopping for food and any supplies she would need for a week and to make a list. It went super well and we ended up talking for over an hour. I called her again a few days later and she gave me a short list of food and supplies. I shopped for her that day, delivered the things and we met for the first time. Super easy! At that time we decided to make Wednesday the day I get her list, do the shopping and delivery. By my choice, I would spend time with her when I took the things to her and we became close. She had never had children and no longer had any family and I had the extra time.
Unfortunately, Ms. M fell a couple of times in her apartment and it was determined she didn’t need to live alone. Brandee contacted me and told me she had been placed into a nursing home. I visit Ms. M there and continue to be a part of her life because she is a special part of mine. I truly believe God had His hand in this and has blessed us with each other. -Susan F.
Unfortunately, Ms. M fell a couple of times in her apartment and it was determined she didn’t need to live alone. Brandee contacted me and told me she had been placed into a nursing home. I visit Ms. M there and continue to be a part of her life because she is a special part of mine. I truly believe God had His hand in this and has blessed us with each other. -Susan F.
Testimony from a parent we work with!
Hey Mrs Brandee this is CT and I wanted to let you know that LD is the one that takes us to see our kids and we just have to say he is such a blessing and we are so thankful he is in our lives helping us through this hard time. He picks us up at 6 in the morning every other Saturday and takes us 5 hours there and back to see our kids and never not once complains about it or anything. He is always super sweet and understanding of my husband with him being a disabled veteran and me when we leave and I'm an emotional mess due to leaving my kids every time. We couldn't have made it this far without him. We are thankful to him and his wife and to all of y'all at lifted higher ministries for the ministry of what y'all do. Have a blessed day
Testimony from a sweet lady we work with!
Good Morning Beautiful Lady!!! I just want you to know how much I really look up to you! Thank you for being such a willing vessel for God to use and for the example of how faithful God is when you’re faithful to his call on your life and to him! I’m also extremely thankful for you pouring into my life and helping me learn how to hone in on the things he’s called me too and desires he’s placed in my heart with confidence! Just wanted to let you know we REALLY appreciate the clothes and I picked a few super cute things out and passed along the others and the girls were really thankful! Your life makes such an impact wherever you go! Again, thank you for everything and walking through this season of moving in a direction where the spirit continues to lead me!
Testimony from a mom and dad we work with!
Testimony from a foster parent we have helped with visits between their foster children and the parents and also transportation of their foster children!
Lifted Higher Ministries goes above and beyond to show the love of Jesus to everyone they serve. We are so incredibly thankful for each of the volunteers and the many prayers they have prayed over the children in our home and their families. Their hearts for vulnerable children and their families are sincere and their prayers and dedication don't just end when then children go back home. They really do continue to lift up hurting families in our community. Thank you Brandee and team for all you do! - local foster parent
Testimony from a mom we work with!
Thank you so much for thinking of me and praying for me. I'm so thankful to have you in my life to pray over, cover me and uplift and encourage me! Thank you so much for being such an encouragement in my life, I really really mean that! Also, a good example of what being obedient to God looks like! Love you so much.
1, 3 & 5 Year Goals
2023 in review: Added a part time grant writer to the team.
1 Year by End of 2024
- Gain 2 full time volunteers and hold 2 volunteer training sessions where a meal is provided.
- Receive grants to fund a fair salary for the Director position.
- Sell ministry #2 house -Gain 3 new local business partners to have involvement with LHM.
- Get 3 new churches involved with LHM -Gain a board member that is a Pastor.
3 Year by End of 2026
- Have a Jail Program to help mentor women as they get ready to transition out.
- Have a special volunteer recruiting committee.
- Receive grants and funds to be able to add an Assistant Director to the team.
- Have a good working Board.
- Gain a board member or two from larger churches.
- Have a 5K Your Way fundraiser special committee.
- Get 5 new churches involved with LHM.
5 Year by End of 2028
- Have a job training/connections program that includes partnering local business owners to help our clients get jobs.
- Program to help our clients be able to be home owners that includes partnerships with local financial institutions and businesses.
- Get 3 new churches involved with LHM.