Some children have come into my home as foster placements because a stranger did the right
thing and called Child Protective Services. Friends have brought meals in the first two weeks of
a new placement while gathering supplies and clothes for us. A daycare teacher doesn’t know
her story but loves my child that I didn’t know existed three days ago. The church nursery
welcomes my child that we didn’t know we’d have until the middle of the night last night.
Our entire community helps vulnerable children that come into foster care for a season. These
children are all our children. We all have a duty to care and to help.
I work for Tennessee Kids Belong (TKB) because I’m a foster mom and know we need the
support that TKB gives in this region and across our state. I believe in our macro level of
support across government, business, faith and creative sectors to end the crisis in foster care
for Tennessee. Defending and advocating for the children in foster care in our neighborhoods,
cities and towns is my passion.
Foster care has grown our family and our hearts. We can be a safe place for children coming
into care while their parents get better and we can say goodbye. Yes, it’s hard but we can do
hard things. You’ve done hard things before too. Our biological and recently adopted children
are brave and compassionate, even more so as a foster family. We recently renewed our
license for the 4th year and I feel like I’ve run 267 marathons and ridden 2 million roller
coasters. Foster care can be isolating and lonely. It’s incredibly rewarding and life changing
too. We have our two sons in our forever family because of foster care. Thank God we were
brave and said one little yes to go to an informational class, and then the next yes to take
classes. We just keep saying the next yes as we need to and here we are with a full life and full
hearts.
The Governor has launched a foster and adoptive campaign to get everyone involved and you
can find a way to connect at TN FOSTERS HOPE! Tennessee Fosters Hope is a statewide
collaborative campaign engaging state agencies, community organizations, the business
community, and Houses of Worship to elevate high quality care and opportunities for children
and families impacted by foster care and adoption. Everyone can do something no matter your
age. We need you to say a simple yes and lend a helping hand. There’s children in foster care
and foster families that need your skills and gifts so they can keep going.
