A Letter from a Volunteer Community Foster Parent - Anonymous:
The thought of children going to bed hungry, scared and unloved breaks my heart. When I mentioned to my husband that we could play a small role in helping these children, he was willing to take it one step at a time. We found Casa de Esperanza and attended an informational meeting. We were so impressed by what this organization was doing in our community, that we knew we wanted to be a part of the mission of Casa de Esperanza.We have two biological children of our own, and at the time they were three and one. We knew adding another child to our chaos of raising small children would be overwhelming. We decided to provide respite foster care, so that even though we were helping children only on a short-term basis, we knew it was making a difference. What we didn’t expect was to instantly fall in love with each and every child that came into our home as if they were our own. One child, 3-month old Jesse, was only happy being held in the football hold. Like any parents would, we spent two weeks taking turns constantly soothing him in this manner. It was hilarious and exhausting at the same time, and it is memories like these that we cherish.
Over the past three years we have cared for five children. Our daughters are now six and four, and they only know life as a volunteer foster family. They constantly ask us, “when will we get to take care of another baby?” I love that we’re raising girls who understand the importance of helping those who are less fortunate. Knowing that for just a few days, or a few weeks, or a few months that an infant or toddler in our care is fed, held and loved, makes the sadness of them leaving a little easier. We look forward to the impact we get to make in our community and in the lives of children who deserve nothing less than to know their worth and how much they are loved. Thank you, Casa de Esperanza, for letting us be a small part of their stories!