Dear
Family and Friends,
I
am overjoyed to announce that I have decided to open my home and my
heart to welcome foster children into my life by providing respite
care and foster care. On any given day, there are approximately
400,000 children in foster care in the United States and over 13,500
in Ohio alone! Those numbers are unlikely to get better as the
horrific drug problems in our country increase.
Respite
care is a service to other fostering families. It allows foster
parents to take a break (usually just for a weekend), which helps
prevent burnout. It also gives the foster children a temporary break
to do something special, and if the foster family has birth children,
it allows them quality time alone with their parents.
With
foster care, as with any child, we are not guaranteed a specific
amount of time together. I may be their foster mom for a very short
time or an extended period of time. Ultimately, the goal of foster
care is to provide children with a safe and loving temporary home
while working towards a goal of reunification with their biological
family. Getting placed with a child is bittersweet as we rejoice that
they are now in a safe place surrounded by love and stability, but we
are devastated by having to tear them away from everything they know
and suddenly put them with a stranger where they lack all things
familiar to them. Depending on the situation, they may have to leave
behind all of their favorite toys, clothes, etc. Can you imagine how
you'd feel going to work one day and suddenly a stranger comes and
tells you that you're not going home-- instead you're going to live
in a new home with only the clothes on your back?
In
the past 6 months, I have completed 60 hours of training, tons of
paperwork and interviews, rearranged rooms, completed home
improvement projects to pass multiple inspections, and gathered
clothing and supplies for all genders, all ages, and all seasons. Due
to my current work schedule, I am only able to accept infants- age 4
but am not as limited when it comes to respite care. I am
licensed through Pathway Caring for Children, which is a private,
non-profit therapeutic foster agency.
Founded in 1973, Pathway Caring for Children continues to serve over
600 children and families each year with various offices throughout
Northeast Ohio.
What
I ask from each of you is for patience and understanding. Remember
that the child you may see with me has been through more trauma in
their short life than anyone should have to endure. This may include
neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, etc. To protect their privacy,
I may not be able to discuss with you what they've been through. Just
know that it not only effects them emotionally, but as I found out
dealing with the trauma following Evie's death, post traumatic stress
symptoms also manifest themselves physically in heart palpitations &
numbness and cognitively in things like loss of concentration &
short term memory. Children often cannot communicate the terror going
on inside of them that they have no control over, so these symptoms
may come out in negative ways through their behavior or hurtful
words. Please show them patience, kindness, and forgiveness with me
and be slow to judge.
Thank
you for being part of this beautiful journey with me! If you'd like
to learn more about the process, Pathway Caring for Children has an
information session the 3rd
Tuesday of every month at 6pm or you can attend a Quick Stop Tour the
3rd
Wednesday of every month at noon and enjoy a free lunch at their
Belden Village office!
Love,
Courtney
"So far no morning sickness... but the paper cuts are terrible!"
Whether short or tall,
With shoes big or small,
Whoever arrives
Will change our lives.
"I am not afraid to grieve.
I am afraid of what will happen to these children if no one took the risk to love them."
"I have the ability to say I will not let their story end like this."
