Allen Wood Jr. can't remember where his airplane was coming from 15 years ago, but he knows where one conversation on that flight has taken him.
On his plane ride home from a business trip, Wood struck up a conversation with the man seated next to him to pass the time. As the conversation progressed, Wood learned that his fellow traveler, Paul Sabin, was on his way to Mississippi to accept leadership of the Methodist Children's Homes ministry in the state.
Intrigued by the ministry's focus on meeting children's needs rather than just housing them, Wood asked Sabin to contact him if the Episcopal church in Greenwood could help establish a new home in the area.
The idea of a Greenwood extension never materialized, but shortly after the meeting, Sabin called Wood and asked him to serve on the organization's board of directors.
"He told me they were trying to take an ecumenical approach on the board, and I was the only non-Methodist he knew in Mississippi," Wood said.
Though Wood's involvement in the ministry of Methodist Children's Homes began through a chance contact, his dedication to the program has established him as a leader in the network of group and foster homes.
Methodist Children's Homes began as an orphanage for Mississippi children in 1897. However, about the time Wood was invited to join the organization, it had begun to shift its focus toward operating group homes and foster care homes in order to help children on individually, said Ed Theiss, president and CEO of the ministry.
In 1999, Wood was selected to serve as chairman of the board for the organization, and he has high hopes for the continued growth of the ministry in its new form.
"Some people say I'm crazy," Wood said. "But, my goal is to provide one home in every county in the state, and then turn around and build one for the opposite sex."
The 104-year-old organization currently operates five group homes in Columbus, Natchez, Ellisvelle, Amory and near Clarksdale. Each home houses six children and a "teaching family."
Methodist Children's Homes also sponsors 13 foster homes. Each foster home consists of a family who temporarily cares for a child awaiting adoption or return to a biological family member.
Wood is careful to point out that it is not the number of homes that sets Methodist Children's Homes apart. It is the ministry's approach to the children who live in those homes.
The Madison-based organization is a member of the Teaching Family Association, a private organization that licenses and certifies specialty childcare institutions.
"We do a specialized type of child care work, and we think it is the highest credentials you can get," Woods said.
The homes are also licensed by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health and Department of Human Services. Almost 95 percent of the organization's children are referred by state agencies.
Woods describes the five homes around the state as "therapeutic group homes" that provide more than just food, shelter and clothing for children.
Wood said caring for children's emotional and spiritual needs is just as important to Methodist Children's Homes as meeting their physical needs.
"Our average child has been institutionalized 6.9 times. Ours come to us as pretty damaged veterans of the system," Wood said. "We provide spiritual training in in the homes, and part of this is for them to go to local schools and churches, to go into the community itself."
Wood said the houses are also visited regularly by counselors, Department of Human Services workers and psychiatrists.
The services and living costs for each home run about $180,000 per year, Theiss said.
The organization receives only 8 percent of its annual budget from the United Methodist Church. Theiss said the state provides some funds based on the number of children served, but most support comes from private donations.
"Ongoing operating money is the most difficult to find," Theiss said. "It doesn't always have the appeal to give the money money to put gas in a car or fix torn carpet as it does to build a new home."
Theiss said the organization has a goal of opening 12 new group homes across the state and would like to be able to reach Wood's ambitious dream of starting a home in each of Mississippi's 82 counties. But, he said the ministry is being careful not to overextend its resources.
"We have no debt and intend to operate that way," Theiss said. "Allen, as board chairman, is leading us that direction."
Theiss said Wood is the first non-Methodist chairman of the ministry's board of directors, and he has helped lead the organization in its ministry focus as well as financially.
"Allen claims he is our 'token non-Methodist,' but he has helped us in recruiting ministry-minded individuals like himself from across the state," Theiss said.
