Next week, the month of May comes to a rapid start and, with it, the advent of summer.  However, before pining a tidy bow on the month of May, I want to remind you that May is National Foster Care Month.

As adoption professionals, we tip our hat to Florida’s foster parents, who day-in and day-out are the lifelines for many of our state’s precious children. Many of these foster moms and dads nurture these kids for a time but ultimately, bid them adieu when the child is reunified with their biological parents or placed elsewhere.

On the other hand, some foster parents become the child’s “forever family” through adoption. Many times, the child is older, and they have been through some level of trauma. Many of these kids have felt first-hand the fear and uncertainty attendant with being removed from one’s home.  The child’s foster “forever” family represents a safety net and a fresh start.

The finalization hearings for foster adoptions are often the most poignant.  For all involved, these hearings are the culmination of so much tears, grief, and love. Both the parents and the children have had a long road to this moment of joy.

Will you aspire to a greater good?  Are you motivated to make a difference in the life of a child?  You can be wonderfully enriched and ennobled by welcoming a child into your home. Is the cacophony that is daily life as a mom and/or dad in your orbit?

If yes, then we have beautiful foster care kids here in the Sunshine State that need your love, guidance, humor, tenderness.  And, as a Florida foster parent, not only are you paid a monthly stipend by the State of Florida, but without raising a finger, you also automatically are made a member of both your local and statewide network comprised of other similarly situated foster families.

The state entity is FSFAPA, Florida State Foster/Adoptive Parent Association, www.fsfapa.org.

Be a foster parent.  Weave a child into the fabric of your family, and maybe become this child’s “forever family”, weaving this fabric into a beautiful tapestry.

Jeanne Tate