“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 changes.

“I get to spend time with them. I get to know them. They get to feel safe with me. And they feel loved. In the spectrum of all the court processes that are involved in their case, it means a lot to those little kids to have somebody there who is really fighting for them and can speak for them. 

“When I go over there, it’s like visiting my grandkids, and we have a good time. I just love kids. If I could have had 12 of my own, I would have. But I only had two. That’s all God wanted for me. I do have four grandkids and one on the way.

“I just have so much love to give. And I have free time. So why would I want to bottle that up in my house? I want to share it with these kids, and I want to help them. They go through some horrible, horrible things in their lives. I just want them to know that there’s somebody who is always there for them. I think I can do that.”

— Stella Furst

Stella volunteers with CASA of Liberty and Chambers County. Additional advocates are needed.

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“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. And I think I have proven to people that I am strong. I’ve lived through some challenging times in my life, and I’ve grown from all my experiences.

“One thing I learned was to never give up. There were times when I thought, I’m going to be in foster care until I’m 18. You want to have hope, but you can never get too excited. Because when you get your hopes up too much, that’s when you can get hurt. But you should never completely give up hope, either. I didn’t. 

“For three years, I haven’t really known what I’ve been feeling. All my feelings and emotions have been so mixed up. But when my adoption became official, right then at that moment, I thought I was lucky. I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m the one out of five kids in foster care who gets adopted and ends up in a good home.

“And while I want it, I also feel bad for the other kids who are still waiting or may never get adopted. It sucks that there are so many teenagers and younger children who don’t have what I have now. It doesn’t seem fair. It makes me really sad.”

— Cheyenne Prescott-Espinoza

After nearly three years in foster care in Florida, Cheyenne was officially adopted by Samantha Villegas Espinoza and Eufemia Espinoza on Sept. 27, 2018. Cheyenne, 14, is Eufemia’s biological niece.

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“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 three months. There was so much paperwork. Because we were in Texas and she was in Florida, there were lots of different rules and regulations that had to be followed. It was definitely a roller coaster of emotions for us and for her. But we kept going.

“And the entire time, we wanted to get excited, but we were told that we couldn’t put anything on Facebook. We couldn’t mention names. We understood, but it was frustrating because we wanted to let the whole world know what was going on.

“On adoption day, when everything became official, it was kind of surreal. The time and effort we put in, the perseverance that we had, it all paid off. And it just shows that for people who are trying to adopt, don’t ever give up. Pursue what you want as your dream, even if it’s hard. Even if it’s something you feel is never going to happen. Because if you want it bad enough and if you stay focused on the goal, you will succeed. We’re proof of that. We never gave up. We kept pushing. And now look at us. We’re a real family.”

— Samantha Villegas Espinoza and Eufemia Espinoza, with Cheyenne Prescott-Espinoza

After more than two years in foster care in Florida, Cheyenne was officially adopted by Samantha and Eufemia on Sept. 27, 2018. Cheyenne, 14, is Eufemia’s biological niece.

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“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 just feel like this is their ministry.

“Now with our children all grown and out of the house, my husband and I are thinking about hosting a kid from the Boys and Girls Harbor in La Porte. You can take them for a weekend or for holidays to get them out of that orphanage type setting for a while.

“I feel for those kinds of kids. I was adopted by my grandparents when I was 6 months old. I never met my real mother. My father was in and out of my life. I kind of knew he was my dad, but nobody really said anything. I haven’t seen him for about 30 years. It’s kind of sad. I’d like to know what happened to him.

“I found some cousins recently. They’re trying to dig up some pictures of my mother. She had polio and was crippled in one leg. She died in 1975. I’m originally from Indiana, so I’m hoping to go back there next year, look into some things and see some cousins I’ve never met. I’m hoping they find some pictures of my mom. I really want to at least know what she looked like.”

— Kathy Sickle

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“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 rode the bus home with me. I gave him my BB gun, and I told him to meet me in the barn. A little while later, I brought him some snack cakes.

“That night it was really cold outside. It froze. And he came knocking on my bedroom window, where me and my sister shared a room. I gave him some more clothes, some sweatshirts, and told him to go get in the barn and cover up with hay. I told him that when we left for school in the morning, nobody would be in the house so he should come in through my bedroom window, watch TV, take a bath, and eat what he wants.

“I was so scared. I couldn’t sleep that night. I knew I was in so much trouble, and I was afraid of what was going to happen to him.

“The next day at school, of course, the principal pulled me out of the classroom and asked if I knew where he was. I was going to keep saying no until he said, ‘Well, your sister already said something, and the whole bus saw him get off at your house. Where’s this kid?’

“I finally told him that he’s in the woods by my house. But I made them promise that they wouldn’t make him go home again. So I brought him in, and he lived in foster care after that.

“Years later I ran into the guy again. By then he had a couple of kids, and he was welding. He told me some of the hard stories of what happened in foster care. Then I got to thinking. If the parents had just treated that kid right, he wouldn’t have had to go through all of that. But how do you know?

“That’s why today when I look at some of these kids on the school bus, you just don’t know what they’re going through at home. If they’re acting up, you don’t always know why. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. There are consequences for their actions. But I try to show them there’s also unconditional love out there.”

— Theresa Cain

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“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 a 2-year-old. Of course, Child Protective Services is involved, but I’m an unpaid advocate for these kids. I establish a relationship with them and help make sure they’re being taken care of properly. If there’s something going on in the home and they don’t feel comfortable talking to anyone else about it, they can trust me enough to tell me.

“I usually visit them twice a month. I also meet with school counselors and others who are connected with these kids, and I go to court when they go to court.

“The judge puts a lot of stock in what I have to say about their welfare because he knows I’m there for their benefit. It’s a very rewarding experience.”

— Kaye Forrester Sneed

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“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 in foster care. I decided to become a foster mom and adopted her.

“Right after that, I found out I was pregnant. God blessed me when he said, OK, if you’re going to adopt one, I’m going to give you another special gift. So I went from two to four daughters within a year.

“Having worked with special needs children and then becoming a mom of one, it’s given me a better understanding of the struggles that families go through. It’s a big adjustment.

“Sometimes on off days, I would take my oldest and middle daughters to hospitals or nursing homes to let them meet patients I worked with. I started them early in learning that there are more people out there than just me and you, and that they face challenges and need help. My girls have always been very caring. Now I think their hearts are actually bigger than mine, because they actively seek to help other people.”

— Vanessa Nelson

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