Lutheran Services Florida
Parent’s Day is celebrated on the 4th Sunday of July. It’s a day that commemorates parenthood and appreciates all parents including mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers, stepmothers and stepfathers, adoptive parents and foster mothers and fathers, as well as their contribution to society.
On this special day, we want to celebrate those who chose to open their hearts to some of the most vulnerable children within our communities– foster parents.
“Parent’s Day as a foster parent to me means being an active mother in their lives. I treat every child as my own,” said Hattie Parson, an LSF foster parent. “I work very well with birth parents, even taking them on vacation with me. They know that I have an open-door policy. We all have a goal of reunification.”
Lutheran Services Florida served 4,600 children in foster care in 2018 and foster parents provided love, comfort, guidance and reassurance to foster children as they worked with the families to be reunited.
Dyecol and Taneasha Walker, LSF foster parents, shared a little more of their experience as foster parents.
What does Parent’s Day mean to you as a foster parent?
Parent’s Day is a special day on the calendar of foster parents because it is a grand occasion where parents are venerated and appreciated for their hard work, love and dedication that they have meted out to children that have come under their care.
How is it working with birth parents?
For the most part we have had a harmonious relationship with the biological parents. There is always an open line of communication to ensure that all the parties involved are able to maintain an optimal level of civility, thus reducing the shock on the child.
What would you say to encourage others to become foster parents?
Children are our future and sometimes dysfunctionalities threaten the potential spark that these children are capable of. Hence, every potential foster parent has a critical role in ensuring the best outcome of each child. It is gratifying knowing that for a period of time you are able to offer care and to positively impact the life of a child.
Becoming a foster parent
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO BECOME A FOSTER PARENT IN LEE COUNTY?
Fill out the information below and an LSF representative will be in touch with you with more information.
