Tom and Joe are why we became foster parents

Tom and Joe are siblings who were removed from their mother's care. After a year, the Court recommended a permanent home be sought for them as there was no positive change in their mother's behavior. We had discussed adoption but had many questions. We decided we would try becoming foster parents to see if it was right for us and if we could be good parents to kids who had a difficult past. Tom and Joe came to live with us, and after a year, we can't remember our life without them. We're currently working with our Cornerstones of Care Case manager to adopt them and give Tom and Joe a forever home.

I struggled with adopting until I met Ellie

My husband was interested in adopting, but I was reluctant until I met Ellie, who was 2 years old when she came to stay with us. Ellie was in and out of our home while her mother struggled with substance abuse. The last time Ellie stayed with her mom, she was left alone for two days. The Court severed parental rights and ordered a permanent home be found for Ellie. When I realized how much I had come to think of Ellie as my own daughter, I knew my fears about adopting were groundless. We were thrilled when the Court accepted our petition, and Ellie is now the proud older sister to her foster sister, Jamie. Ellie is asking if we can "'dopt" Jamie so she can be happy, too.

Josh and his special person

Josh had a hard time in school while living with his parents. When he and his siblings were removed from his parents care for neglect, Josh became a foster child with a family who had adopted another foster child several years before. They had also been foster parents to other children, but at this time Josh was the only child in their care. After several months of counseling and working with Josh, his grades improved and he was rewarded by being allowed to invite a special person to school. Josh invited his foster parents and foster brother, and when his teacher asked which was his special person, he replied they all were and that he had invited them all since he didn't want to choose. Since that time, Josh has continued to live with his foster family and is doing very well in school.

Caseworkers encourage relationship

After many attempts to help some neighbor children who were being neglected by their parents, J and L called the Cornerstones of Care Foster Care office to see if they could find out where the children went when they were removed from their parent's home. Two of the foster Care caseworkers located the children, who were in a temporary foster home, and worked with the neighbors to become certified so they could care for the children. Now the children and their foster parents are talking with the caseworkers about adoption.

Camille and Jackson

My wife and I had numerous unsuccessful fertility attempts so we finally made the decision to adopt internationally. After waiting well over a year for a referral that never came, we decided to try fostering/adoption. On July 4, Cornerstones of Care called about Camille who had been abandoned at a local hospital. We went to pick her up from the hospital on July 5 and began the process of fostering her. On August 28, Cornerstones of Care again called about fostering Jackson who was only 2 days old. The caseworker brought him to our house that night and thus started our life with a two month old girl and a two day old boy. We eventually adopted Camille in January of this year and Jackson in May and couldn't be more thankful to Cornerstones of Care for the blessings they provided us.