For over 26 years, Fostering Success has been a lifeline for foster children in Southwest Florida. Based in Naples, the nonprofit organization is dedicated to providing foster youth with a sense of stability, encouragement, and opportunity—things every child deserves but not all receive. Through a wide range of programs that focus on education, enrichment, and essential needs, Fostering Success helps children build brighter futures. Their mission is clear: to provide strategic education and enrichment opportunities that enable foster children to reach their full potential.

“Every child deserves the chance to thrive, and we provide the resources and support that allow foster youth to dream bigger and achieve more,” said CEO Ann Hughes.

The organization’s work begins early, with programs aimed at the youngest children in the system. The Ready for Kindergarten program places preschool-aged foster children in high-quality early learning centers, laying the groundwork for long-term academic success. For school-aged youth, Fostering Success offers academic mentoring that matches students with tutors throughout their educational journey. While the national high school graduation rate for foster children is just 50 percent, the impact of this program has been remarkable—every senior enrolled in Fostering Success’s tutoring program graduated.

As students move beyond high school, the organization continues its support through annual scholarships, helping young adults attend college or technical school. For those aging out of the foster care system, often without the safety net of a family, the organization offers its Thriving After Care initiative. This program equips young adults with essential life skills such as budgeting, cooking, applying for jobs, building a resume, and finding housing. It provides guidance during what is often one of the most vulnerable transitions in a young person’s life.

Fostering Success knows that meeting only educational needs is not enough. The organization also addresses basic necessities, supplying foster families with critical items like diapers, beds, school uniforms, clothing, and backpacks. This support helps relieve the financial burden on foster families and ensures the children are safe, comfortable, and ready to learn.

Equally important are the programs that nourish the emotional and creative development of foster youth. Through its Heartstrings Arts & Music program, Fostering Success gives children the opportunity to explore music, art, dance, and theater. These experiences offer an outlet for self-expression and healing, while also bringing joy into their lives. Athletic programs further enhance a child’s growth, allowing them to participate in sports they may have never had access to before. These activities help children gain confidence, make friends, and experience a sense of belonging.

As the school year comes to a close, Fostering Success shifts into summer mode with camps designed to keep children engaged, active, and inspired. These camps allow kids to explore new interests in a safe and supportive environment.

The impact of Fostering Success is made possible by the compassion and generosity of the community. As a privately funded nonprofit, the organization relies on donations and volunteerism to sustain its programs. From tutoring and mentoring to donating school supplies and hosting fundraisers, there are countless ways individuals can get involved and make a difference.

3050 Horseshoe Drive North
Unit 260, Naples, FL 34104
For additional information, call
239-262-1808 or visit https://fosteringsuccess.net

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We Celebrate

We celebrate growth. We’ve cycled through a few sizes of baby clothes, progressing through newborn and 0-3 month clothing. I didn’t think I’d be emotional about our baby outgrowing clothing. But witnessing onesies pulling off our baby’s tiny shoulders and being unable to zip up that 0-3 month dino sleeper brought me to tears. I want to be a mom who celebrates growth, though, as I joyfully bag up the piles of tiny clothing for the next bundle of new life.

We celebrate sleep. Our baby is sleeping through the night (mostly). Every night is a bit different, but we’re thrilled for stretches of sleep and a seemingly consistent routine.
We celebrate a sense of permanence. We know our baby, and our baby knows us. We feel connected as a family of four. Though we are still unsure of the future, we experience a deeply rooted peace as we hold our children with open hands.

We celebrate smiles and laughter. Our baby smiles readily and giggles every day. Silly songs, friendly greetings, cheek cuddles, and happy words incite big smiles and laughter from our little one. Our hearts are full.

We celebrate a settled sister. Our sweet daughter brings us so much comfort, even as she’s had to release her hold on her “only child identity”. Though she’s first to share that having a baby is not always easy or comfortable, she praises God consistently for the opportunity to demonstrate unconditional love and care for a vulnerable baby.

We celebrate our family and our community. My in-laws take the kids once a week for a couple of hours so Jim and I can have a weekly date night. Our church community continues to support our family in so many ways with babysitting, groceries, baked goods, and hand-me-down baby clothing and supplies.

We Respond

I’ve shared various comments we have received from others, which I believe can inform and encourage the process of becoming a foster family. Opening our homes to vulnerable children is often accompanied by hurt and heartache, but it’s ultimately a holy calling to unconditional love, and to building our community here in Southwest Florida. When people comment that any given child is “lucky to be with us,” my response is always and very quickly, “We are the lucky ones. We are the blessed ones.” There is great blessing – far beyond what we pour out – in adding to our family. We receive far more than we give. I know many of my fellow foster parents, and those who have adopted children, would agree wholeheartedly.

Recently, when we share our story of welcoming a newborn into our home, we have fielded the comments: “Wow, you started back at the beginning,” and “I can’t imagine starting over.” Yes, we are a couple in our 40s, with a 10 year old and a newborn. We weren’t planning this. We weren’t expecting this. But we welcome and celebrate the new life in our home.

Others may not be able to imagine it, but praise God we got the chance to start over. What a privilege, honor, and joy! I understand what they mean, of course. When I had my 10 year old back in 2014, it felt so incredibly hard – discombobulated, uncomfortable, exhausting, torturous. For the first three months of her little life, I thought to myself “How has the human race continued on? Why would anyone do this more than once?” Now, 10 years later, I understand how short that newborn season really is, and how quickly the little years fly by. I regret those thoughts in light of infertility, and we delight in the chance to start over again.

I’ve released any expectations I’ve had in this life of what the decades will bring. My grandma always said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” She and my grandpa lived very simply and humbly in a small farming community in rural Illinois and though not remotely wealthy, they lived like the richest of kings, giving generously and opening their home often to whomever needed fellowship or a place to eat or stay. We may make plans, but we’ve found that true life, true joy, true success is embracing the simplicity of the unexpected and holding our resources with open hands.

And so, I consider myself among the most richly blessed this spring season of 2025, and no matter what tomorrow brings, I’m so thankful for it all. I treasure it all up and store it in my heart – all the newborn cuddles, the wide smiles, the feedings, the growth, the celebrations, and the unexpected. Happy Mother’s Day!

This is the latest article I’ve written about our journey as a foster family. Here are the previous installments:

• The Learning and Chaos as the Fostering Journey Continues
• Fielding Questions as a Foster Parent
• Navigating Foster Care in Naples: A Family’s Continuing Journey
• Navigating the Challenges of Becoming Foster Parents

The post Finding Joy in the Unexpected: Celebrating Foster Motherhood in Southwest Florida appeared first on SWFL Family.

Over the past weeks/months since we received our first permanent placement as a foster family, we have fielded questions, faced challenges, and experienced countless joys. After years of infertility, though, I’m reminding myself constantly to count it all as pure joy. I spent many hours frustrated for various reasons after the birth of my daughter in 2014, and my mind takes me back to those days now that we’re again traveling through the stages of newborn development. I regret my perspective now – if only I’d known it’d be my first and last bio baby, I might have revelled in the sleepless nights, mysterious runny noses, or the fussy witching hours, rather than wishing and worrying those difficult days away. So, I’m approaching this baby a bit differently. And, the situation commands that we hold our baby with open hands – that we walk through each day in enjoyment and love rather than in frustration and worry.

The Questions

We get lots of questions about our baby; I think people of all ages are fascinated by new life. It’s hard to know how to respond to: “Is that baby yours?” Perhaps it’s because our baby looks a bit different from us, or perhaps it’s because I don’t look like I’ve just given birth. For those who know our family, I think they are simply surprised at the baby’s presence.

In becoming a licensed foster family through One More Child, one of our teachers, Laura Wells, trained us on how to answer these types of questions. “Simply say ‘Yes, this is my family!’ when asked potentially awkward and uncomfortable questions like ‘Are all those children yours?’ We’re collectively responsible for vulnerable children, and as foster parents, we are particularly responsible to defend and advocate for the children placed in our homes,” Laura advised during our class. “Responding with a clear and simple statement such as: ‘This child – or these children – joined our family’ is also a great response.” I called Laura this past week to get more insight. “I look at every awkward question as a chance to educate and encourage – to get the word out about foster care and One More Child.” She also shared about a time when someone asked that question of her at a recent event. She had three siblings who joined her family. “Before I could respond, our 9-year-old placement declared: ‘We’re her foster kids.’ He didn’t explain the situation; he said it matter-of-factly. The woman responded by sharing that she couldn’t live with her bio parents and was adopted. It was a sweet moment of connection that we could have approached defensively and didn’t.”

It’s not hard for us to show our baby the same love we would show for our biological children, but we’ve gotten that question too. “ “How can you love a baby that isn’t yours?”” Our response to that question is more nuanced. My first thought is: “This is our baby. We’re appointed, responsible, and fully present each day this child is in our home.” Loving children and seeking their best is our calling. And, when I look into our little one’s eyes, I think a better question is: “How could I not love this baby?”

The Challenges

Age difference.

Our daughter is 10, and we have a newborn. My husband and I are in our 40s. We were years removed from sleep deprivation, baby screams, diaper blowouts, and boiling bottles. The change was abrupt and jarring.

My sister-in-law had a baby when my niece was 10. “The hard part is that by age 10 kids are independent, and you’ve gotten into a comfortable routine where you’re not constantly intervening. Your world flips upside down and suddenly, you have someone who is 100% dependent on you for everything,” she shared.

Loss of control for our bio daughter.

After becoming a foster family, our daughter doesn’t get to decide as much about our family’s routines or activities anymore. Mostly, my husband and I make unilateral decisions about feeding times for the baby, when the baby needs to be comforted, and who will change the baby’s diaper. Her frustrations permeate as she attempts to take back control over some aspects of baby care and daily life

An unsettled future.

We don’t know what will happen from one day to the next – our baby’s future isn’t known. We’re in a holding pattern that feels unsettling.

The Joys

Babies slow us down in the best possible way. Everything is deliberate and monumental. I sing the simple kids songs I had forgotten about like Father Abraham and He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands and silly little melodies we created when we had our daughter: “It’s time for a diapy changey. Are you ready for a diapy changey?”

We take great joy in the head-back “curly” stretches, the first smiles, the cooing, the little clothes, the snuggles, the cheeks that’ve suddenly filled out. It’s a time of wonder, and I don’t want to miss any of it. Jim, Winnie, and I revel and delight in all things newborn baby, “fighting” over who gets the next hold or feeding.

We see our bio daughter learn and grow, stepping outside of the comfort of routine and grappling with new rhythms. She is maturing as she cares for the baby and opens her heart. She takes great delight in the baby’s “firsts.”

I’ve found joy, too, in using the plural words “kids” and “children.” It’s a new happiness to text friends sentences I never thought I’d write like: “I’ll have both kids with me.”

And we’re constantly reminded to live one day at a time, counting it all as pure joy (even the difficult questions and challenges). We soak in the snuggles and parent our children with love, grace, and gratitude, remembering that they don’t really belong to us – but to a God who holds the whole world in His hands.

Previous Articles in this Series

Choosing Foster Care: Our Journey from Only Child Dreams to Opening Our Home for Healing

Navigating the Challenges of Becoming Foster Parents

Navigating Foster Care in Naples: A Family’s Continuing Journey

The post Fielding Questions as a Foster Parent appeared first on SWFL Family.

Our family’s first foster care placement – two toddlers for respite care – was both joyful and exhausting (read more about that experience at neafamily.com). Then, just one week later, I traveled to my parents’ house to help them through a monumental transition in their lives. The few days I spent with them were emotional, tense, and, in the end, bittersweet and beautiful. Weary, I returned home, facing a stacked schedule and an overwhelming to-do list. 

The call 

Soon after my return, we received a call to foster a baby, and we said yes. “Yes” to upend our lives and schedules, “yes” to a litany of unknowns, “yes” to sleepless nights, “yes” to endless formula mixing and bottle sanitization, “yes” to a vulnerable, tiny little one, “yes” to being cozied up at home, “yes” to gazing at awe-inspiring newborn yawns and stretches, “yes” to wonder and delight. This would be our first “permanent placement” since becoming a foster family. We continue to learn about the situation; it’s nebulous and abnormal. And this sweet and vulnerable “placement” is a squishy, cuddly baby. 

This phrase from the Bible popped into my head – “Unto us is born this day,” a baby. The baby in our home (and all the other vulnerable, abused, neglected children) is born to all of us – we are all collectively responsible for defending and providing for them. Individuals, families, and organizations (like One More Child, Lutheran Services, Foster the Family, Friends of Foster of Southwest Florida, and many others) carry out amazing and necessary work supporting and upholding children and their families in our community. 

And for us, returning to the infant stage has meant countless visits from friends and family. Diapers, shipments of non-alcoholic beer, dinners, Target runs, a growler of cold brew from a local coffee shop, visitors rocking a fussy baby to sleep, newborn zippered footie pajamas, playdates for my older child – more support than we ever anticipated. My theory is this: my friends who are parents of older children in their late teens or twenties have their sights set on grandparenthood. They miss babies in a way they may not have 10 years ago. Take my friend Monica – her oldest is 16, and her youngest is 9. Thus, that next phase of life is in sight; she craves holding a baby in a new way. And we reap the benefit! 

What will happen? 

Daily, we release control over this child’s future, and we remember that we never really had control over our family in the first place. As parents, we acknowledge that any child in our home belongs to God. We also recognize that our children’s stories don’t wholly belong to us either. In her book Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott states it this way: “You own what happened to you.” For children who spend time in foster care and who are reunified with their family or who are adopted, I would think this reality provides some semblance of comfort. Research shows that different people process the same traumas in vastly different ways, proving Lamott’s point. Thus, every person’s story is so unique – every outcome is unique – and it is impossible to generalize foster care outcomes.  

Still, I have so many questions. Does the child welfare system work, even if it isn’t efficient? Do children placed in foster homes flourish long-term? When they age out, how do they function in life? How does adoption change the course of foster children’s lives, and is permanence with non-related adults the best outcome?

These questions are too big to answer with data points; the answers are anecdotal, individualized, and nuanced. And isn’t protecting and fighting for children our calling and responsibility, regardless of the result? 

A fellow One More Child foster parent, Mercy Betts, shared a bit of her story of growing up in the foster care system: “I was in foster care from the age of 2 to 16 years old. At 16, I was adopted. Growing up in the system, I lived in foster homes and group homes. There were some good ones and some not-so-good ones. I always knew that I wanted to open up my home and help children in need – to provide a safe and loving space for them. I especially felt called to provide for and mentor older children.”

I asked Mercy about her adoption: “I met my adoptive family when I lived in the One More Child group home in Fort Myers. At the time, they had three bio kids of their own, so when I moved in, it felt like a true family. Teens don’t usually get adopted, so I was very blessed to have that opportunity at 16 years old.” 

My neighbor, Juliana, is an adoptee and shared some valuable truths with me: “There is no perfect picture. There will be pain or confusion for adoptees, foster/adoptive parents, and biological parents. All that matters is for the child to know: ‘I am chosen.’ I know I was placed into the perfect home for me. While my experience has been somewhat painful, I wouldn’t change it for the world. It has taught me how lucky I am to have been placed into my parents’ arms – into a healthy and safe home and a new pattern for my family’s legacy.”  

Our foster baby’s story isn’t necessarily mine to tell. We don’t know what will happen at this stage, so we cherish every day. Our call is to love for a moment, however long that moment lasts. We don’t know what this baby’s talents, favorite foods, passions, or tendencies will be. My mom often reminds me: “Isn’t it comforting that we don’t have to cultivate our children’s passions or joys? We get to watch them discover that for themselves!” Will this baby struggle with fractions, hate broccoli, laugh at peek-a-boo, and learn to sign “more” and “yes?” Will this baby run high fevers or love to cuddle during movie night? Will this baby crave mountain biking trips, learn to sight-fish snook, and enjoy reading The Hobbit? 

We don’t know the answers to those questions – and we may never know – but we do know how to love deeply with consistency and without condition. For today, that must be enough.   

The post Navigating Foster Care in Naples: A Family’s Continuing Journey appeared first on SWFL Family.

Interestingly, we’re almost six weeks into being officially approved by all organizations involved in the foster care licensing process and we have yet to welcome any children into our home. Much of this is circumstantial, certainly. We’ve gotten plenty of requests – phone calls, texts, and emails – about children in need of a safe home for a time. Here are a few key issues I didn’t really understand prior to becoming a foster family. 

Complex and fluid situations. It is possible to say yes to a placement request and not actually welcome that child into our home. This happens for several reasons: a social worker may be able to find a foster family closer in proximity to where the child lives and attends daycare/school/etc. after they request placement from me. A social worker may find kinship or family care for the child. A social worker may also be able to find a placement for an entire sibling group, and agencies rightly prioritize keeping sibling groups together.

An overworked and burdened system. Child welfare workers and social workers are extremely busy and may not be able to answer emails, phone calls, or texts on my timeframe. This means I may not find out what happened in terms of a placement to whom we said “yes” initially.

Subsidized daycare constraints and difficult financial realities. The Early Learning Coalition (ELC) is yet another government-funded organization present in this process, which subsidizes daycare for foster children. Not every daycare facility accepts these funds. Additionally, there can be a two-week lag between applying for ELC funding and funding approval. During that time lag, foster families may need to provide private care for children not old enough for school.

Foster care placement regulations. If my family lives in a mandatory hurricane evacuation zone, and we have a foster child living in our home, we must evacuate.

A confusing web of many agencies. Our licensing agency (One More Child) does not place foster children. We receive requests for placement from a more centralized agency called Lutheran Services. It’s taken a bit of time to get a sense for the Lutheran Services team and how they process placements, and I’m still learning every day! 

Impact on my child and managing disappointment and heartache. We now understand the difficult reality that we can’t necessarily tell our daughter about children who may be placed in our home until they show up at our door. 

The Need is Great

If these feel like reasons not to foster, please understand the need continues to grow. And the realities of life – of trauma – in a broken and hurting world demand our attention. There are at-risk and vulnerable children in need of compassion in our community. And even though we’ve experienced disappointment and frustration with the process, we’re still encouraged, still thrilled, still nervous to welcome children into our home. Our little family is learning and processing all these realities together, praying and growing along the way.

Emanise Joseph, a placement specialist at Lutheran Services, encourages families to get involved in the system. “There is an urgent and growing need for foster homes in our community. Many children are waiting for loving families to welcome them, and the situation is becoming increasingly critical. These children are not just statistics; they are individuals who require care, support, and stability.” She challenges families in Southwest Florida: “Your home could provide the safe haven these children desperately need. The demand for foster families is rising, and we are in dire need of compassionate individuals who can make a real difference. If you can open your home to a child or sibling group, it could profoundly change their lives. Together, we could help these children find the love and support they deserve.”

A Way Forward: Foster Village SWFL

Perhaps you – like me – are overwhelmed by logistics and schedules, work, and child care. The licensing process, placement system, and the realities of the ELC certainly contribute to the overwhelm, especially in the beginning stages of figuring out the child welfare system. There are people who want to help!

Heather Finocchiaro, a Southwest Floridian, started an organization designed to provide resources to foster families, alleviating burdens and enabling them to continue caring for “the least of these.” Foster Village SWFL’s mission is to come alongside children and families who are experiencing the foster care system to show them they are not alone. Finocchiaro points to burnout and lack of support: “Over 50% of foster parents will quit in their first year. We exist to bridge the gap between these families and the local community that wants to help. Having a village of support can be a sustaining factor for foster families. We provide for tangible needs, host fun family events, and offer birthday parties for children in their care.”

I asked Heather what she might say to someone reticent to becoming a foster family because of the financial realities and tangible needs (diapers, car seats, food, beds, daycare application fees, etc.). “The tangible needs can be a large burden, and families are often not equipped and need tangible support to be able to care for these children. Foster Village SWFL is here to make sure you have everything you need once a child is placed in your care. We aim to remove as many barriers as possible to saying yes to kids who need a home.”

Finocchiaro’s passion for supporting foster families stems from her personal experience. “My husband and I were foster parents when our children were younger. We learned firsthand how isolating and lonely the journey can be. We felt like no one understood our family’s unique struggles or sacrifices. Amidst a cross-country move, our adoption of two teenagers fell apart. However, it was because of that move that we found Foster Village and wondered how different our experience would have been if we had the support of an organization like this.”

Finocchiaro’s story and insight reminds me that “foster” is both a verb and an adjective. Yes, the word denotes an intentional relationship with non-related, vulnerable children in need of compassion and care. However, the verb “to foster” involves the development of something far greater than the sum of its parts. “Families who step up to foster children quickly learn their calling is to foster a family,” Finocchiaro shares. “These children are connected to a biological family of their own, and parents whose children enter the system often lack support. Seventy percent of child removal from homes is not due to abuse but from neglect. These biological parents are often struggling to navigate child rearing on their own, and foster families often bridge this gap, stepping in to help broaden the support available to struggling parents. It’s a beautiful thing when children can go home, which about half do, and not lose more people that love them, but gain an extended family. Everyone wins.”

I’d love for you to keep following along as I share about our first placement and stories from the child welfare system. 

Neapolitan Family contributing writer Anna Snyder is sharing her family’s foster parenting journey. The first installment in this series is available here.

The post Navigating the Challenges of Becoming Foster Parents appeared first on SWFL Family.

There is value in waiting, praying, discussing, considering, and drawing nearer to one another. It’s okay to mourn regularly while counting our blessings. Life in a broken, hurting world demands this rhythm – this balancing act. My husband and I are choosing more often to look up and say: “Thank you” instead of looking around, comparing ourselves to others, and asking: “why?”

If we did humbly ask “why,” though, one of the answers may be foster care. Over the past four months, we have gone through the process of becoming a licensed foster care family through One More Child. I’ve learned so much about the need for families to come alongside hurting parents and children and be a resource and support for healing. Over the years, my husband and I talked about adoption and foster care – and finally made the decision to get licensed after a month of praying and research as a family. The ultimate goal of foster care starts with reunification, as research shows it is best for children to be with biological family or close friends/kin with whom they already have a relationship. The process of opening our home was significant and uncomfortable, though it has already been accompanied by great blessing. 

As we sifted through mounds of paperwork and began our classwork, we were encouraged by a One More Child trainer and foster parent, Laura Wells. The Wells have been a foster family for six years and have had 24 children placed in their care. They have had children for as little as one night to as long as 18 months. The Wells family recently moved into the One More Child home in Fort Myers to be able to take in more sibling groups, as the space was originally designed to serve as a group home. Laura shared her story with us. “My dad was a foster child, and he didn’t get to stay with his sibling. His story is one of continued abuse, dysfunction, and neglect. But from ages 5-10, he was in a functional foster home, which profoundly impacted the trajectory of his life. Because of foster care, my dad met and married my mom. Foster care saved me from generational dysfunction, and now we’re a foster family.”

I asked Laura when she and her husband decided to become a licensed foster family. “We have five biological children. When we were in the hospital for my third, I asked my husband, ‘Why are we waiting? There’s never going to be a perfect time to start.’ And we started the process. Foster care is such an important part of my story. It’s always been in me to be a foster parent. I look at how my dad was welcomed by a woman who didn’t know him. I’m saying yes to my dad and his siblings every time I welcome a child into my home.”

Our training opened my eyes to the idea of trauma-informed care. As we enter situations and assess behaviors of children joining our family, we must ask, “What happened to you?” and “What do you need?” instead of “What’s wrong with you?” Laura shared with me about the need for trust-based relational intervention, which was a focus of our training. “Physiological change happens because of trauma. Children have to feel safe; we can’t just tell them they’re safe. It takes time and quick thinking. Our biological kids can handle small disappointments, but we must recognize that children coming into our homes are fragile. And so, we demonstrate consistency and fill their buckets with drops of love and consistency. A lot of behaviors are helped through tiny routines; traumatized children require slow healing over time.”

Janelle Hanaburgh directed our training sessions and continues to serve as a resource for us at One More Child. Thankfully, because of the pandemic, the entire foster care training process takes place online now, which theoretically makes it easier for families to obtain licensure. Hanaburgh noted the immense need for families to pursue licensure. “In the month of August alone, there were nearly 17,000 children placed outside of their homes in the state of Florida due to abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Fostering children from your local community makes a huge impact on the children’s ability to stay in their school, keep important connections with teachers, friends, and family, and have access to other familiar parts of their life, only improving their academic, mental, and emotional outlook, and overall wellbeing during their time in care. Becoming a safe home for a child in crisis can truly save a life and allow you to be a part of putting families back together whenever safe and possible.” 

As we completed the training, we were often reminded about the goal of foster care: reunification. Foster families provide necessary care while biological parents complete court-mandated activities and receive support. “Most biological parents DO love their children,” Hanaburgh reiterated. “Their ability to care for their children and meet their needs in a way that would be considered safe and satisfactory to the Department of Children and Families has been impeded often due to substance abuse issues, mental health challenges, not having had proper and safe parenting modeled for them, or lack of resources and support. Foster parents can encourage, cheer on, and model proper parenting for biological parents.”

Unfortunately, though the process of becoming a foster family is easier and more seamless now, there has been a significant drop in the number of licensed families since the pandemic in 2020. “We lost families during COVID due to their valid concerns about the virus and children or workers being in and out of the home, possibly increasing the risk of exposure,” Hanaburgh explained. “Some foster parents were impacted personally and significantly by the virus – either through illness or loss of a loved one, requiring them to shift their focus and efforts. Others still were impacted financially by loss of jobs or wages through direct or indirect fallout. Now, fewer people think about stepping into the space of fostering for these same reasons. With so many other stressors, both from COVID and other challenges, such as economic downturn and [hurricane damage], it can be hard for families that would have otherwise considered fostering to imagine spreading themselves, their resources, and their families even thinner.”

Laura and I talked about the decrease in the number of foster families – and the growing need for foster families. “I hear it a lot,” she shared, “people say things like, ‘I would do it, but the system is so bad. I would have a hard time letting them go back to a bad situation.’ My response is to remind them that our call is to love them for a moment, to show them what a healthy family looks like, and to get them involved and help them discover their gifts and abilities.” 

The need is so great. Laura encourages families, “If you have a spare room, take someone in. The impact on your own children, to foster children, to people you meet along the way is so great – it’s a ripple effect. You can change the whole trajectory of someone’s life. My foster grandma had no idea the harvest that would come from caring for others in their time of need. There are generations beyond what we see today in which we are investing.”

Becoming licensed took a greater investment of time and energy that we originally anticipated, but our file has finally been approved by One More Child, Children’s Network of Southwest Florida, and DCF. And, the training was also much more informative and valuable than I ever thought possible. I’ll be sharing monthly about our journey as a foster family in the magazine and on neafamily.com. For more information on becoming a licensed foster family, visit onemorechild.org.  

The post Choosing Foster Care: Our Journey from Only Child Dreams to Opening Our Home for Healing appeared first on SWFL Family.