I am a grandparent currently caring for two grandchildren ages 3 and 3 1/2. I did foster care for over 30 years prior to becoming a kinship caregiver. keeping my family together is very important to me and absolutely essential for the children! Being a grandmother is the best but it can also be an emotional roller coaster. I look forward to the day when the parents are well enough to care for them on their own. Meanwhile I stay busy and young at heart!

We were inspired to foster from the TV show The Fosters. Like them, we had "enough" (enough of, well, everything). We've had several placements and adopted our 11-year-old son in 2018.

I grew up with a friend who was a foster child, and knew that I was always called to be a foster parent one day. We struggled to have children, so my husband and I decided it was time to start fostering. We have now fostered 8 children in almost 4 years, and have adopted the most amazing little girl who has taught us so much.

We received a call one day to take an autistic child. She came to us as a broken bird and we all fell in love with her. As she started to receive love, counseling, and everything a child deserves, a beautiful spirit came alive. She was adopted by a wonderful family and touches everyone she meets. That's the joy of fostering!

My foster children have shown me that the capacity to love grows exponentially. Their presence in my life has made me a better person. I am lucky enough to have great relationships with the birth parents of the children who have reunified and I have an active role in their life. Our lives with always be interconnected.

Standing two feet high with chubby cheeks and red pigtails sprouting from the sides of her head, she came to us through foster care. Her mama came through sheer determination. Fourth generation in the system, they whispered. Her mama came to supper, to grocery shop at Walmart, to church. We didn't know the term coparenting back then, we just did life alongside each other, both loving the same tiny human. Foster parents get told all the time that we are heroes. In actuality, I think birth parents like Angela who do the hard work and change their lives and their children's lives are the heroes.

My joy as a foster mom comes from the relationships that I build with birth families. I feel it is important to nurture not only the children that become part of my family but their parents as well. Showing the birth parents that you care for them as well as their children helps to build healthy relationships between all adults involved. When a birth parent asks you for advice or just wants to talk through an issue and you offer up that support; you in turn are helping the child heal along side their parents. Trauma is everywhere in our lives, by acknowledging that trauma is real for the birth parents as well as their children; I feel you are giving families a chance to heal together and be a better part of each others lives.

I have been a foster parent for 11 yrs. I have shed many tears but the thing that brings me the most joy is reunifying a kid with their parent. I am very good at bridging with the bio parents and believe it is an essential part of getting the kids home where they truly belong if possible. There are a couple cases that I am sure if I had not bridged and mentored the biological parents the kids would not have ever gone home.