God Embolden Our Hearts for Teens in Foster Care: A Local Foster Mom Shares About Stepping Out in Faith to Foster Their First Teen

When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me. Psalm 138

A Seneca Foster Mom Shares Her First Experience Welcoming a Teen in Foster Care…(since this experience there have been many, many others she’s hosted! )

“For our 4th placement, we agreed to take an 11-year-old girl. For us, this was a good fit since we had our own 11-year-old daughter at the time. We met up with the caseworker in the Lowe's parking lot in Easley.  She was finishing up signing papers with the family that was taking the four-year-old sister. The case worker looked at us with tired eyes and introduced us to the 11-year-old girl.  The caseworker then pulled me aside and asked if there was any possible way that I would be willing to consider taking the girl's 16-year-old brother “just for the night.” She proceeded to tell me that the secured placement for the brother was just overnight, and it was a 2-hour drive from where we currently were, meaning she would not get home until well after midnight. My husband and I talked it over and decided that we would just not sleep that night and agreed to take the brother home.

20 minutes later we were eating Wendy’s, enjoying getting to know the kids.  They were too upset to eat, but as we talked and joked we found they were fun and engaging and thrilled to get to spend just a little bit more time together.   We got everyone settled for the night and had a long talk with the 16-year-old.  Although he was 16 (a teenager), he was funny, polite, excited to be done with school and really wanted to have a job…ultimately an awesome kid.  After some long talks, we decided that we could give it a shot to keep him long term. 

It was a GREAT fit.  He was the first teenager I had ever raised.  I got to teach him how to drive, how to apply for a job, and how to negotiate life skills.  He taught me how to be calm while riding in the car with a first-time driver, what one can really expect from a teenager and how resilient kids are when they are given the opportunity.  He enjoyed our family, we enjoyed him.  He taught us how to make some amazing Mexican dishes.  We got to know his family.  Actually, we ended up taking his 4-year-old sister as well (remember the one from the Lowe’s parking lot). 

The kids ended up going back to their family.  The 11-year-old just graduated high school.  The 16-year-old has a fast car, a dog and is into fitness.  Taking a chance on a teen was so far out of our comfort zone but it opened our eyes up to the fact that teens need safe places to stay.  Teenagers may have experienced LOTS of life, but with love and direction these kids are awesome!”

-Seneca Foster Mom