"They all listened, they all cared"

When my husband and I first started fostering seven years ago, we struggled. Our first placement had medical needs, as did our two year old biological daughter, and I was eight months pregnant. I look back at the level of stress we were under and remember the feeling of not being seen or heard. We had minimal support but desperately wanted to continue to help our community as foster caregivers. Years later when we moved, we found a National Angels chapter and were matched in their Love Box program. 

As my husband and I explained what led us to foster, they all listened, they all cared. Our love Box group asked about the kids in our home, and as I answered them I realized how many social, emotional and physical needs the kiddos in our home had, and it permitted me to feel the weight of what we were doing. It was a task - a big one - but the Love Box program gives foster families space to be heard and seen, to be valued in the role we take on, and proud to be foster parents. They meet the practical needs of our family as we transition with new kiddos coming in and out, and make the remaining members of the family feel just as important.

Our Love Box volunteers have been with us for two years and have blessed us greatly by checking in on us, surprising us, and supporting us. I can’t count the number of times we were given detergent at just the right moment, or leaned on a gift card for supper when we were having a hard week. Those things have been the answers to the unspoken prayers and needs we have had along this journey.