“I’m a volunteer court-appointed special advocate for children who are in the foster care system. Their case worker may change. Their attorney may change. But unless they move to Austin or some place like that, I will continue to be the one face that never … Continue readingFoster care advocate has ‘so much love to give’
“When I was in foster care I would think, ‘Why, God? Why did this happen to me? What have I done to deserve this?’ Then I started thinking that maybe I was placed in this situation so I could show how strong I really am. … Continue readingAdopted teenager: ‘I’m one of the lucky ones’
“The adoption process was 18 months long. We knew it would be challenging. But we had no idea how complicated and interrogating it would get. “We had home visits. We had interviews. We had background checks every three months. They made us do fingerprinting every … Continue readingAdoption process was emotional roller coaster
“When my oldest daughter was a teenager, she always thought she would adopt. Over the past three or four years their family has taken in about 12 foster kids. They adopted two little boys and will be adopting another little girl, probably next year. They … Continue readingGrandmother reflects on adoption, foster children
“When I was in sixth grade, I helped a kid run away. He came to school, and you could see he was beaten from his hairline down to the top of his calves. It was horrible. I told him, ‘You’re not going home today.’ “He … Continue readingKids on her school bus get benefit of the doubt
“I thought I would retire and get a part-time job to earn some extra money. Instead, I volunteer with CASA. I’m a court-appointed special advocate for kids who are in foster care. “I work with one family that has four kids and another family with … Continue readingFoster care kids have advocate in their corner
“I’ve been a licensed practical nurse (LVN in Texas) for 13 years. Since 2008 I’ve been doing pediatric nursing, mostly private duty working with critically ill kids. While doing that, I fell in love with one of my patients who was 5 years old and … Continue readingNurse has a heart for special needs children