As you may know, several years ago, my family jumped into the world of foster care. For these last years, it’s been babies, babies, toddlers, a nine-year-old, a four-year-old and a couple of seven-year-olds. Yes, the babies were tough at night, and the goodbyes were heartbreaking, but the joy of watching these tiny strangers grow physically and grow into our hearts made all the trials and tribulations well worth it.
About a month ago, we entered a new phase of foster
care. We have had some teenagers spend a
night or two on our couch until they could be placed in a foster home. I would like to share a little bit of their
stories with you.
Let me introduce you to a young man named George. A teenager, not from around here. English was not his first language. George
and a family member were driving through when a routine traffic stop resulted in an
unfortunate discovery. The family member had some legal issues in another jurisdiction. George was in a predicament. The officers called DCBS and at 1:00 in the
morning, our phone rang. Our worker
asked us, can you let George sleep on your couch tonight? His parents cannot come and get him, and we
don’t have any other place for him. We
said yes. If we had said no, he would
have either stayed at the DCBS office all night, or worse, the police
station. George got to our house about
2:00 AM. Scared. Alone.
English not being his first language, he struggled a bit to communicate. The first question he asked me? “Where am I?” His second? "What’s the address of the police." George stayed with us about 10 hours. We made him breakfast, nothing fancy, scrambled
eggs and toast. He was grateful. The worker picked him up and took George
home.
A little after this, we got a call about a 17-year-old boy named, yep, George. George had been in and out of foster care most of his life. He needed a place to stay until his worker could find him a new placement. Once again, our couch was put in play. George came to our home with all his worldly possessions in two large garbage bags. Yes, two large garbage bags. We talked with George. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen to him. He turned 18 in a couple of months and would age out of the system. He had no family. He had no support. I was broken-hearted at the thought of what might happen to George when he left our home if he didn’t have a place to go, a family that would take him in even after he aged out.
This last Saturday, my wife called me while I was working at the church. Our worker called. There was a young man who needed a place to stay over the weekend, so he didn’t have to sleep in the office. His name, too, was George. George had been in and out of the system most of his young life. He is 15 years old. He bounced from private homes to group homes. He wound up on our couch because no one wanted him. I talked quite a bit with George over the weekend, but he really talked to my wife. He told her that all he wanted was a foster family in Simpson County to take him in, to go to school, and to be able to see his sister. George slept on our couch for a couple of nights. He became a part of our family. As I told him goodbye, I teared up. All day, I wondered what would happen to George when he left our home. Later, I told Laura that if we had a bed, we would have kept George. She readily agreed.
Obviously, their names weren’t George. These three boys are completely different people with unique stories. Here’s the problem, in Kentucky, there are hundreds, if not
thousands of Georges. Teenagers that no
one wants. Teenagers that have
problems. Teenagers that have been through
drama and through trauma. Teenagers that
are about to age out of the system with no clue what’s going to happen
next. Teenagers that just want a place
to call home with a family that wants them. Could you help George? Kentucky needs foster families willing to take
in teenagers. Would you open your home,
and more importantly, your heart, to help George? If you’re interested, let me know. We’ll talk about how you can help
George.
