by THERESA DAVIS
Just imagine you’re in your comfort zone. Maybe you’re at home in your cozy jammies watching TV or surfing on social media. A stranger bursts in, gives you a trash bag and tells you to pack, but no more than what can fit in that bag. You have five minutes.
Your parents are crying or screaming or both. You don’t understand what’s happening or why. There’s no time to say goodbye. You’re small, terrified, confused. A stranger or a police officer puts you in a car and takes you away. Your parents don’t put a stop to it. Why?
You’re taken to a place where they tell you your parents can’t see you for a while. You still don’t understand. Mom and Dad love you, they said so. You just want to go home.
You’re not taken home. They take you to a house that’s not yours, with a family that’s not yours, or to a place where there are other kids like you, who got taken away from their parents.
You don’t understand the choices your parents made.
You lay in a strange bed, in a strange place, with strangers. You are traumatized, terrified and missing your family so much it hurts. No one understands why you’re so sad.
That is the reality for many children who are placed in foster care, but there are organizations that can help.
- Visit togetherwerise.org, an organization that provides duffle bags, bikes, etc. to help ease the sometimes sudden transition into foster care.
- For more information about fostering to adoption, visit foster2forever.com.
