Good People
The sometime murky world of foster care and adoption can leave a person feeling depleted and violated. A journey that often starts out full of hope and good will ends with devastated families and lives redrawn by traumatic experience.
Dedicated social workers, foster parents and therapist’s are broken by a seemingly endless parade of dysfunction. The absurd becomes the norm and even abuse loses it’s impact.
I remember trying to turn my back on the pain and suffering by walking away from the work. I had become unable to do my job with the weight of so many children on my back. I lost sight of my calling and became a paper weight.
After a sobering year of unemployment and a 400 mile move away from everything that reeked of a life I no longer wanted to know; I found myself empty and unsure. An advertisement for F.U.N. family’s drew me in and I met with the supervisor of that organization and was excited by the opportunity that she offered.
For cart blanche in the training of foster parents; I signed up for another tour this time in foster care. The reality of shifting kids around like pieces on a checker board was horrible but the people that came forward and/or had been solid foster families for years were incredible. Adoption was still a happy accident however it too seemed to happen despite the obstacles.
My supervisor Kathy was a lovely woman with a heart as big as Nebraska. She fought and bled for me as I all but begged the executives to fire me. We worked together for two years where I developed and grew my message. Kathy taught me many things about people and the desire to make a difference despite the barriers.
Certainly I have posted my share of foster care is a disaster messages and I am still challenged to think otherwise;that being said I have met no finer group of individuals then those that I have come across in the world of foster care and adoption. Courageous, loving and generous are only a few of the adjectives that come to mind.
The professionals that I have met come from all manners of experience. The families, devoted and compassionate and everything in between. Despite the heartache and disappointment I know that the folks I encounter along the way are the reason that I do the work. The stories that unfold and the sheer magnificence of the patchwork quilt of loving souls coming forward in a genuine effort to leave their mark on a better world.
Yes foster care as we know it has to change and everyone of us that dares to own a piece of that system must strive to be our very best selves. Yet it’s the people along the way holding fast to the dream that no child should ever go through this life unloved that make my heart sing.
To all of you that struggle thanklessly everyday and every night I tip my hat and bow my head to you. Not out of any bloated sense of hero worship but with genuine, heartfelt admiration and love. You are the reason that so many children and young adults refuse to let the light of family burn out in their hearts. Those young people with the most reason to turn their backs on any dreams of family prove time and time again that they are worth any price that we have to pay to end their suffering.
Thanks for all that you do on behalf of those that might be lost to despair without you. Thank you.
