Foster Parents are Superheroes

Foster parents are superheroes. They are more like Batman or Ironman and less like Superman or Spiderman. Foster parents don’t have superpowers – They don’t have anything that makes them fundamentally different from anybody else. What they do have is training, support, access to resources, and a knowledge that there is something that needs to be changed. Often those called to foster care have had a childhood experience that motivates their desire to help others. They have a desire to stand up for good vs justice. People who do foster care are ordinary people who have accepted an extraordinary calling.

You can’t do foster care alone though, even superheroes need help – Batman needed Alfred and Ironman needed Pepper Potts to be most effective. Foster parents need people around them to help through the daily struggles of foster care. Help with babysitting, making meals, help with dishes, laundry, lawn care, or anything else that can take some burden off of the family. Thornwell provides a lot of the resources, training, and support for foster parents, and they need more. The biggest difference between foster parents and superheroes is that superheroes usually thrive on anonymity and isolation. For foster parents to be successful, they need a supportive community of people to surround them with love and be available to meet needs as they arise. People that can see the real you in all your struggles and brokenness, not just your “everything is ok” alter ego.

When people tell me “I could never be a foster parent because …” I tell them they’re lying. Not really, but I try to have a conversation with them about why they feel that way, and assure them that if I can do foster care, then they can do foster care. I do understand that not everyone is called to be a foster parent, it’s a big, difficult calling that is not to be entered in to lightly. Even if you don’t feel called to foster parenting, you are still called to help. Isaiah 1:17 says Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. It uses words like ‘learn’, ‘help’, ‘defend’, and ‘fight for’. All of those are things you can do without welcoming children into your home. There are many ways to offer hope and healing to kids in foster care without becoming a foster parent. That being said, the world needs more superheroes. South Carolina needs more foster parents.

Contact Us

Please call 864-938-2100 or complete the form below to begin your foster care journey or to ask how we can help you with foster care.