A Story Of Hope

Happy April! Spring is here and we are feeling hopeful of changes and exciting news to come! 

You may have seen on social media, but we are happy to share that we have been chosen as 1 of 5 finalists for Water Stone Bank’s 100th Anniversary Giving Campaign. We will receive a minimum of $10,000 with the potential of $30,000 purely based on voting. You can vote everyday 1 time a day for the rest of the month here. Please vote, share, and tell your friends!  

We’re also excited about our Mother’s Day 5K. Thank you to those of you who have already signed up. For those of you thinking about it this is just a friendly reminder that prices do go up on April 13th – less than two weeks away! You can sign up here and invite your friends and family to run/walk/jog/dance the 3.1 miles with you.

As we look toward the future with great anticipation and excitement we wanted to share with you a sweet story of one foster mom’s experience with a biological mom. We hope to continue to share more stories like this in order to better express our why behind our support home, to help you catch our heart and vision, to honor foster families, and celebrate with biological moms!

“I got the call late one night in January of 2019. Two children, ages 4 and 4 months. My husband was out of town, so I called him immediately and we said yes. They were dropped off a few hours later making us a family of eight overnight. We knew bits and pieces of the why, but nonetheless, we prayed for their mama, and got to meet her at the first case transfer staffing. 

Sitting across from us, she was beautiful and sweet and very scared. Just as many foster parents have preconceived notions about biological parents, so do biological parents about foster parents. I was very aware of this, and let her know that we were a team, and that we would work together to help her heal, get back on her feet and get her babies back as soon as possible. Her guard came down a bit, and over the next few months, we became good friends. 

She worked hard to do everything she could to get her babies back. She persisted with calls to the agency to make sure they were on top of everything, she attended every hearing, she arrived at every visit early, prepared and bearing treats/gifts for not only her own children, but the others in my home as well. She provided clothing, diapers, food for them, and she called them everyday. She came to our Sunday family dinners and even brought her parents too. 

Every opportunity, everything goal she had, she took and she went above and beyond. Not only that, but during this time she was living a few hours away, and she made NO excuses, never late, never canceled, she made it happen. She took responsibility for mistakes she made in her past, she wanted and believed for better and she loved her beautiful babies well. 

Her children were returned home in record time. It was a beautiful reunion and to this day, I know that they are all doing well. We keep in touch and get to see them from time to time, they will forever be part of our extended family. We talk about how the Lord works all things for His good – and I see that in her life. Even though she went through a difficult season, she believes, as do I, that the Lord is and will continue to use her experiences to help others overcome as well.”

*If you have a story you want to share, please feel free to email Natalie at natalie@onehope27.org