Foster Care Success Stories

Foster Care Success Stories

Going to the lake with family.  Playing games with friends and laughing together.  A child's biggest worries should be the usual things like school, learning to ride a bike or passing a driver's test.  In a perfect world, we'd all have worry-free childhoods. 

But the reality is that some children have a lot more to worry about.  They deal with physical and sexual abuse, neglect, alcohol and other drugs.  It can take its toll on their emotional and physical well-being.  It makes it hard to trust.  To feel safe.  To feel loved. 

Foster care is designed to promote a nurturing and loving environment in which children can grow and thrive until they are able to be reunited with their birthparents or placed in another permanent home.  In most instances the children in placement need specialized services. Each child in foster care is matched with a qualified and trained family who is committed to making a difference in the life of that child.     

Foster parenting is a gift.  Foster parents are allowed the opportunity to be a part of a child's life. They share the things they have learned, enjoy the feeling of excitement that comes from watching a child experience something new, and learn that there are other options in life.  Foster parents know that gifts come in many different packages and that the gift of love goes both ways.

Ron and Marlene

"We want to help make their lives better, no matter what length of time we have the children in our home," said Marlene , veteran foster mom to nearly 100 children.  Ron and Marlene began foster parenting almost 15 years ago when their youngest child was only three-years-old.  "We kept hearing stories of so many children in need of a good home and we thought how hard could that be - we could provide that."  And that's when their love for foster parenting began. 

At first their friends and family thought they were crazy because they already had a full house, but over the years they have all seen what joy foster care brings to this household.  "We feel so grateful to have this opportunity to touch the lives of so many children.  It's not the easiest job to have, but it is definitely the most rewarding."  In addition to their four biological children and being foster parents to many children in Milwaukee County, the couple have adopted three of their foster children because reunification with their birthparents was not possible.

Jeff and Karen

Jeff and Karen, were in the middle of raising their own children when they decided it was time to start giving back.  "We have both had many blessings in our lives and we think we have a responsibility to our community to give some of that back - we are firm believers in the saying that it takes a village to raise a child," said Karen.  During the past two years, the couple have been foster parents to five teenage boys and have had their share of ups and downs.  "These kids come from a lot of chaos, no structure, and have suffered because of it.  It's natural when they act out because they are not used to someone taking an active interest in their lives." 

With patience and a lot of love, there is so much to be gained, not only for the child, but the family as well.  "I would encourage anyone to become a foster parent - it can be stressful, but the connection that's made is one that the child will take with him/her for the rest of their lives," Karen concluded.  Even today, the couple receives phone calls from the first teen they had in their home.