For children in care, having a foster parent means having a stable loving home and in these uncertain times has become more important than ever. One woman in Broward County is providing that temporary care for children in need during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Sara is a single mother who takes in sibling sets, especially boys, to help keep families together.
“Whereas I used to be a full-time single working foster mom, I am now back with all three of my boys,” she said.
Sara has one mission now: providing a safe environment through this crisis.
“A lot of kids in care need to have a sense of consistency and knowing what comes next during this time that is something we can't really answer,” she said. “My nine-year-old, who is very bright, said: 'Hey, why don’t we come up with a schedule like we have at school?' He developed it and I tweaked it a little bit. My boys are very athletic, and it is a big part of their lives.”
Their daily schedule includes active breaks, school work and an afternoon walk where they get to open up.
“They have a million questions about what is going to happen, what is going on. I can't answer the big questions, but I am able to point to the schedule and say ‘for the next six hours, this what our life is,'" she said.
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Among the things they don't know is when they'll get to see their birth mom again, so Sara also schedules meetings for them online.
“The need in South Florida is huge for foster parents and when we think about providing a house, it is a lot more than that,” Sara said. “If we don’t have foster homes, a lot of the children ended up being in shelters.”
To learn more about how you can become a foster parent, contact Forever Family in partnership with the Children's Services Council of Broward County.
