‘A Night with Welcomed’ fundraiser to benefit vulnerable children and foster families

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - A nonprofit organization with the goal of strengthening foster families will host an event later this month. And it will get a little help from Jordy Nelson.

A Night with Welcomed is on April 14.

Welcomed is a nonprofit that exists to surround vulnerable children and the families that support them with caring communities.

“We do this by equipping and encouraging individuals inside of local churches across the state of Wisconsin to support foster families and adoptive families. We know that 50% of foster families quit fostering after the first year because of the hardships. But we have found that 90% of them continue beyond two years when surrounded by these care communities,” explained Justin Novitski, Director of Church Engagement and Fundraising at Welcomed.

An event will be held on Friday, April 14 to raise funds for Welcomed and to share its model to Christian churches to accomplish its goals. A pre-concert event will take place at 5 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, located at County Road NN in Rib Mountain. It features former Green Bay Packers wide receiver 2023 GBP Hall of Fame inductee Jordy Nelson and his wife, Emily. At 7:30 p.m. Sanctus Real will perform at Immanuel Baptist Church, located at 152111 Tulip Lane.

“Jordy Nelson and his wife, Emily will be sharing their story about their involvement and adoption and foster care, as well as doing some Q&A time. We’ll have some auction items for autographed items from Jordy. And then we go over to Immanuel Baptist Church and we have a concert at 7:30 p.m. with Sanctus,” explained Novitski.

He said the Nelsons adopted their daughter in 2017-- the same year Welcomed formed as an organization.

“They reached out to us this last fall because they wanted to put this care community model in their church in Riley, Kansas,” he said of how they became involved.

For those that are unfamiliar with Sanctus Real, Novitski said the band has made music for 27 years.

“They’ve got over 26 radio hits as a Christian rock band. What I’m really excited about is that when we found out that they were interested in coming to this area, and I watched their most recent music video, it had a powerful story of adoption in it. And so we know it’s the right fit for the event that we’re putting together,” he said.

He said there are more than 7,000 children in the foster care system in the state of Wisconsin alone. And 400,000 across the US.

“We need more foster care families, and we need more individuals supporting those foster care families. We believe that everybody can do something. This is an opportunity to come out and hear about an organization that’s on the frontlines,” said Novitski.

Click here for event details and ticket information.