Foster parenting is a community

Foster parenting is a community

My husband and I have belonged to this community for almost 3 yrs now and while at times it is very challenging, complicated, saddening and hurtful, it can also be joyful, loving and fulfilling.  I am very happy that we are a part of this community.

We have gained many friends, who have become an extended family thru this community. The community that we belong to is a very special one, we consist of a small group of families working together, inside the larger population of foster care.  

We come together to meet the needs of children whose life’s have been disrupted most often times by outside forces they have no control over. We all have a common bond that we want to see these children succeed in life and find a place where they feel that they belong and are loved.

For a lot of these kids, we provide the only source of stability and consistency in their life’s, and we all work together to maintain that for them.

What holds us together is the support we give each other daily. Regardless if it is a message on face book, a phone call or even just a thought about one another, we know that in our small community group we can always count on one another.  I can pick up the phone a reach out to any of the other parents in my group day or night and they are there for me, as I am for them.

We are challenged all the time by the same outside forces that put these children in our care to begin with. We encounter challenges from the biological parents who have lost the ability to parent their child and no longer provide the daily care and may not agree with the rules in our homes.  We face battles with the courts to do what is in the best interest of the children we care for. We struggle to care for the kids and hold the group together while the state continues to cut our funding year after year.  

Thru all the trials tribulations we face, battles won or battles lost, I really enjoy being a part of this Community.  Having the opportunity to help children in need whether that is for a day or a few years is a great feeling. Knowing that you have been there for someone in their time of darkness and hopefully allowed them to see there is light at the end of the tunnel is a wonderful feeling and I hope to remain a member of this community for many years to come.