Hard and Holy Work | Foster Care Awareness Month
For the last five years, foster care has completely turned my life upside down. I’ve held heartbroken children, hugged grieving parents, and sat with burdened case workers. I have also snuggled sweet babies, encouraged loving parents, and seen teams work hard so families can thrive together. This has profoundly changed me.
We entered foster parenting naïve to the complicated nature of trauma. I think most of us crave certainty, comfort, and clarity. That’s what makes foster care so scary – the unknowns, the discomfort, the disruption. Yet, it turns out that most of the good stuff, at least for us, has fallen right there, in the sacred in-between places.
It doesn’t mean that foster parenting is always fun or easy, but children are worth it!
I’ve learned to hold the grief of foster care with the gift of loving a child. I’ve learned that I can feel both burdened for the pain that a family is experiencing and blessed to be part of the support team. I can move forward in the trenches of parenting with faith and with fear. These things can co-exist.
May is Foster Care Awareness Month. Not everyone will foster, but everyone can do something to support children and families impacted by foster care. We all have a place at the table of child and family wellbeing and our presence there is not only wanted, it is desperately and urgently needed.
Consider these ways to stand up for kids and families impacted by foster care:
- Learn about foster care in your community! Did you know nearly 4,000 children are in South Carolina foster care today?
- Pray for everyone involved in child and family welfare – children, parents, case managers, and foster parents.
- Connect with foster parents and listen to their experiences. Encourage them and ask how you can support their family –bringing meals, collecting supplies, or babysitting.
- Volunteer to serve youth in foster care through mentoring, tutoring, or teaching life-skills. Donate to programs and agencies that provide these needed support services.
- Become a Guardian Ad Litem or CASA to advocate for children who have experienced abuse or neglect. This best-interest advocacy in court makes a life-changing difference!
- Become a Foster Parent to offer a safe and loving home to a child or youth while their family works towards reunification. Today, there is an estimated need for 2,189 more foster placements in South Carolina.
- Adopt a Teen and give them the bright future they deserve! 20,000+ young people will leave foster care without a family this year. There are currently 100,000+ children and youth waiting to be adopted.
When you live life in service to others, you’ll find that your life is the one most changed. As you learn more about the burdened systems and people in your community, you’ll see that we all grow weary at times but thankfully we are not alone. In the hard and holy work of foster care, you’ll find that we all want to experience redemption.
I hope you’ll take the risk and find the role you can play for children and families today!
Kaley Lindquist
Thornwell Marketing and Recruitment Specialist