Since my last newsletter things have been busy. It seems life has changed for everyone including myself.
Now more than ever my hope to change the lives of foster children is stronger. Of all the lives lost on September 11,2001 the children whose parents never returned are in my thoughts everyday. I wonder how many will go into the system and and my fear is what might happen to them. Will they go to good homes or will they end up lost in the piles of paperwork, misfiled into the computer, forgotten and lost?
Over the last few weeks I've spoken with people about this system and most have said they know it has faults but its better than nothing. I have tried to tell myself that it is better than nothing. Sadly across the street from me is a foster care home. It is my constant reminder of the fate these children face. A child will arrive in a government car, the trunk opens and a garbage bag is taken out. The child walks alone, their head down in shame into a house where no one stands to greet them or acknowledge their arrival. For the first week the child is not allowed outside. After that week if that child has proven trustworthy he/she can pick up groceries at the store across the street for these fosterparents. Once in a great while this child is rewarded a pack of gum. These same fosterparents have children of their own who get treats on a daily basis. This my friends is one of the better homes and my heart can not accept it is better than nothing.