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LUKE WAGNERIN
My husband and I originally became foster parents in order to adopt our special needs niece who had been in the foster system for just over 5 years. Her needs were so high, we didn’t see becoming foster parents past her adoption. So the word “foster” for us wasn’t what textbook said it would be like. For us, it was to get the support we needed from an agency and adopt our niece who now is our daughter and we have our family with more support than just adopting her.
We eventually did very well getting our daughter stable and getting her to a place in her life where she needed and could function properly with other children in our home. We fostered to adopt Lily (our daughter) for a year and 3 months and after her adoption, we started to look at other children. We started with foster to adopt and were not successful in one placement but were successful for the two others that followed. The support we got made all the difference in being successful for all of our placements, Lily and now Jayce, our 4 year old we took in under emergency placement who is scheduled to be adopted in November into our family. The support needed during a pandemic meant even more challenges. When we got what was provided from Austin Angel’s, I knew I wanted to be an advocate for them and be supportive wherever I could be supportive to other parents and families. We also learned that creating a Pod Family of other foster families during the pandemic was helpful. Since we became foster parents, my husband Jonathan, Lily, Jayce and myself are happy to be able to continue to support kids in the foster system where we can with those in our Pod Family, The Mack’s and The Childress’s. I look forward to being of service and support where I can to help build a better foster care system centered around Community, Empowerment & Hope as Austin Angel’s current goal. |
