Originally published in The Lynn Haven Ledger/Gulf Coast Gazette , September 7-21, 2018 issue. The purpose of the article is to raise awareness not only of the massive need for foster families, but a way for others who can’t foster to come alongside and help those who do.
Some of us find our calling at a young age, and some when we’re older. The key is to find it. Cathy Harcus was seventeen when she knew she was called to foster. It wasn’t until years later, after she was married, that she and her husband made fostering a reality. Kristen and her husband have been fostering for just a couple of years, and she became interested when she talked to and got to know some fostering families at her church.
Both Cathy and Kristen are excellent examples of how anyone can make a positive difference in a child’s life.
So, how does it work, you might wonder? Kristen explained that after you attend QPT (Quality Parent Training) classes, have a background check done, and have your home inspected, you get certified as a foster parent. You can stipulate the age range you’re comfortable with, and you can say ‘no’ to a call, although it doesn’t happen often.
As Kristen told me, this is basically how it happens. Your phone rings, a question is asked, and you say ‘yes.’ A couple of hours later you open your door to a child such as Sophie, a tiny three year old with dirty, ill fitting clothes, clutching a new handsewn bear just given to her, close to her chest, with eyes large and bewildered and filling with tears. Your arms reach out to her and you hold her close.
Over the next days and weeks and months you provide her food and clothing and shelter and lots of love and hugs. She misses what she knew, even though it wasn’t safe there, and when you hear her crying out for her mommy, it breaks your heart into a million pieces and you vow to never let this beautiful child down.
Because you have a full-time job, you get help from the Early Learning Coalition who pays for most of the daycare for Sophie. After 4 months, Sophie leaves your home and is placed with her grandparents, and your heart is broken again because you grew to love this defenseless child. But you know there are many more children that need a place of safety and stability, so you say ‘yes’ again and again because you know “there are many more joyful and heartwarming experiences than there are sad ones.”
As of 2018, both Cathy and her husband have been licensed foster parents through Life Management Center for 14 years, with fifty precious children coming through their home during that time. They adopted two sons. She was recently appointed the Program Director for Foster Family Support at the same organization they’ve fostered through. As Cathy says, “I’m now working my passion to recruit, license, support, and retain quality foster parents.”
There are six counties in Northwest Florida that the Life Management Center provides behavioral and mental health care services to: Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson, Holmes, and Washington. Of these six, Bay County has the sad reputation of having the highest number of needy children and the fewest foster homes available. But the good news is it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Cathy has been working hard, coming up with ideas to encourage more people to get involved with either being a foster parent, or coming alongside and helping those who do. The Coffee Talk is the new way to find out, in an informal setting, just what fostering and adopting is about and get your questions answered. There’s at least one location in each county, so you won’t have to travel far. As Cathy explains, “we go over a list of common barriers that people face as well as the rewards you can expect. Some common questions we are being asked are: Can I foster if I’m single? Am I too old to foster? May I still have firearms and foster? The Coffee Talk is also designed for people who know this is not the right season for them to foster, but they still want to be involved in the mission. We give them lots of ideas on how they can get plugged in and supporting the families who do foster.”
Cathy told me there’s an 81 year old lady who is still fostering, and another lady in her eighties who makes handsewn bears so each newly fostered child will have a gift of love to bring with them to their new home.
You can find out more by visiting their Facebook page: Life Management Center of Northwest Florida, or stopping by their office at 525 E 15th St in Panama City, or calling Cathy on her cell at 850-628-4744.
You can become part of a special group of wonderful people who help provide Welcome Baskets for newly fostered children, and loving on foster families by giving dinner sponsorships, and so much more. The opportunities are many and the need is sometimes overwhelming.
I encourage you to find a foster family and ask them whether they regret what they’ve signed up for. I’m pretty positive they’ll say all of the tears were worth it, because of the children rescued from terrible situations. Makes me think of what Jesus said – “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Find out how you can be part of the solution.
