Journey to Foster Care

 I recently became a licensed foster parent, and I even currently have my first two placements However, before I can talk about my journey as a foster parent, first we must discuss the journey I took to become a foster parent. 

I've known since I was 10 years old that I wanted to have kids, and that someday I would eventually do foster care and potentially even adopt a child. My best friend in 3rd and 4th grade was the oldest of four and was a foster child. Meeting her changed my life. We went our separate ways in 5th grade as I went to private school and she stayed where she was, but reunited when we were teenagers as juniors in high school. At that time her foster mom had decided that "A*" wasn't good enough to have around, and chose to put her in a group home while adopting the three younger sisters. The foster mom's reasoning was that "A" was too troubled to be "Saved." I knew at that point that when I decided to foster that I would want to foster not only younger kids, but teens as well. I fully believe it is never to late to help a kid, that no kid is "un-savable." "A" in I went our separate ways after junior year, but her story has never left my mind. 

The second half of my junior year one of the seniors at the private school I attended needed a place to live. "J" had been kicked out by her mom for dating a white boy. Mom had gone thorough an abusive relationship with a white man and didn't believe in mixed races. "J" moved in because there was no where else to go, with our home she would never have graduated high school. 

After I graduated high school my mom and my sister moved towns, and my sister soon started a new school. At this school she met many friends, several of which were either former foster kids, or current ones. "C's*" story always stuck out to me, because much like "A" nobody wanted "C" because she was a teen and past the point of being saved. "C" is still one of my sisters closest friends, and in an effort to get out of the system married her high school boyfriend. They unfortunately do not have a healthy marriage but "C" is still married to him because he's the only family she's ever really had. 

After college, I traveled around the world for a year doing missionary work. Along the way, I met many kids, some in rehab centers, some that were homeless, some involved in after school programs for high risk, but what I realized along the way is that all kids need is someone to love them. 

In 2018, I got at job at a homeless shelter in Idaho. I've been there for almost three years now and while working there I've seen the good and the bad, but the more I see the more I wanted to find a way to help. 

In May of 2020, in the height of Covid-19, I decided now was the time. I signed up for classes, took them via Zoom in August 2020, completed my home-study the week before Thanksgiving . As my licensing case work finished my home-study visit she let me know that I could potentially have kids before the holidays. Thankfully that ended up not happening (I ended up with COVID-19, and it allowed my family a place to stay for the holidays). On January 12th, 2021, at about 3:30pm, I got a call telling me I was now licensed and would I be willing to take a 9 yr old boy. I said yes. He showed up at my house at 5:30pm. Then,  on January 13,th 2021 at about 5pm, I got a call asking if I would take a 12yr old boy. I said yes. I picked him up at 5:30pm.

For privacy reason's I can't say much about their stories or their names. But what I do know, is "Mr. T*(9yo)" should be going home before the end of the month, while "Mr, R* (12yo)" is in my care for the foreseeable future. 

What was once a dream, has become a reality. What was once something in the back of my mind, has now come to the front. 

This blog will mostly be about my journey as a foster parent. A single foster parent at that. But the blog is called "The Peters Way" because I am a Peters, this is my journey, my story, and who knows what else I might deem relevant to life and to those around me. The three most important topics to my life these days are: 1) Foster Care Awareness, 2) Siblings of Disability's Awareness, and 3) Homelessness awareness. So be forewarn all these are fair game when it comes to this blog. 

I look forward to sharing more with you in the future. 

        ---The Peters Way--- 

*names have been changed, or shortened to a nick name for privacy reason"