Chronicle SPRING 2017
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Foster Care. Foster Hope.
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oster care gives children and teens the home they need and deserve. It gives them hope to see that there is a world where love, safety, and security exist. Children come into foster care for a number of different reasons. Often they have experienced abuse and neglect, but sometimes the child's needs are more than his or her family can meet or the child requires a different path to succeed. Whatever the reason, the underlying needs are the same―a home where each child can be supported, guided, and accepted. Foster parenting is a special calling. “We are always in need of strong and caring foster families who can meet the challenge of parenting children with difficult backgrounds and multiple needs,” says Toosdhi Jackson, CCC Foster Care Program Director.
The Decision to Become a Foster Parent
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ne of CCC’s current foster parents expresses her foster care experience this way:
“Years ago, I kept seeing the UNICEF pictures of children in need and wanted to take them all home. I had two children of my own and my husband was not interested in fostering. In my early fifties, I became single and determined that it was the right time to pursue fostering as I was now the sole decision maker. I learned about CCC through one of my coworkers who was fostering through them. It’s been a wonderful ten years of fostering, I wish I had done it a lot sooner. It’s such a rewarding thing to do. The children are so good. They’re wonderful. To give safety and security is a nice thing to do for another human being, especially a child. If you accept youth in a trusting and loving way, they respond. If you have fear, doubt or any apprehension, they’ll pick up on it. Just give love. Treat them like your own children.”
Foster Care Awareness Month happens each year in May. To learn more about foster care, visit www.cccofva.org.
www.cccofva.org • Our mission is to provide quality, compassionate human services to all people, especially the most vulnerable, regardless of faith.