PORT ST. LUCIE — More than 120 child-welfare professionals and faith and community leaders assembled online Thursday, Jan. 21, for the local launch of An Act of Good Faith, a faith-based initiative championed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to bring more resources to families served by the child-welfare system.

The event featured appearances from Tony Dungy, Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis and Christian recording artist and Angel Armies founder Chris Tomlin. Each spoke directly to the local faith community about the need to blend the needs of the dependency system with the resources of local churches, mosques and synagogues.

“The purpose of this meeting is to see how you, the community, can work with us in this initiative,” Ms. DeSantis said. “It is much needed, and I think a lot of good can come of it … for families on the brink of crisis or already serving children in crisis.”

Tomlin, who closed out the event with an acoustic version of his hit, “Good, Good Father,” shared the dream that inspired him to establish Angel Armies, a foundation that brings people and ministries together to solve issues that plague vulnerable youth.

He described a panic dream in which he was late to a concert. He stopped at a light. To his left was a stadium full of people waiting for him. To the left was a baby stranded in the road.

“Even in the dream, I remember thinking, ‘How do I go to the concert and just leave this baby in the street?”

That dream inspired him to “take the baby into the music” by becoming a voice for vulnerable children.

One by one, each guest shared their story of inspiration and encouraged those on the call to find their own way to help – through meal delivery, laundry service, or providing respite to foster families, for example.

An Act of Good Faith – and the smaller initiatives and projects that it umbrellas – makes it easy for local faith groups to “jump in.”

CarePoral, for example, has already launched in St. Lucie and Martin counties, connecting the needs of local families with a growing network of churches. The project will launch in Okeechobee and Indian River counties once enough churches join the network.

The resources are there, said adoptive father Tony Dungy, former NFL coach and founder of parental support foundation All Pro Dads.

“We have everything we need,” he said. “All we ever needed to do was start.”

The event ended with a few words from Communities Connected for Kids’ CEO Carol Deloach, who encouraged participants to get involved on the local level and to learn more about the governor’s faith initiative.

“With your help, we will be able to reach families in an unprecedented way,” she said. “CCKids will do all that we can to make the vision a reality.”

To learn more about CCKids or an Act of Good Faith, visit www.cckids.net or call Christina Kaiser at 772-528-0362.