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Promise of a Forever Family
Every child deserves a forever family and a home where they feel safe and loved.
But sadly, thousands of Missouri children live day-in and day-out in fear and uncertainty.
Fourteen-year-old Jenny was one of them. By age nine, the little girl had faced more hardships than most people do in a lifetime.
“I lived with my mom – mostly in rehab centers, homeless shelters or with babysitters,” Jenny recalled. “One night we slept on a church balcony. I woke up and saw my mom using drugs …”
In the grip of addiction, Jenny’s mom wasn’t the parent she should be. She came to a breaking point, and one day, the unthinkable happened. Jenny remembers, “A petting zoo came to my daycare. My mom told me to go see the animals and then meet her in the parking lot. But when I came back, she was gone. It got later and later. She never came back, and the people at the daycare called the police.”
Thankfully, LFCS donors enabled us to be there to help rescue Jenny from a future that seemed to hold little promise.
The Missouri Children’s Division contacted Lutheran Family and Children’s Services. Our caseworker went to work immediately to find a loving home for Jenny. In a matter of hours, foster parents welcomed the little girl into their home.
LFCS caseworker Joanna kept in close touch, and oversaw Jenny’s visits with her mom. “I always felt better seeing Miss Joanna,” Jenny said. “She was honest and knew the right thing to say; she would comfort me when my mom canceled.” Three years later, when her foster parents asked if she would like to be adopted, Jenny said YES.
The Missouri Department of Social Services receives over 5,000 reports of child neglect or abuse every month.*
This need overwhelms our financial resources, but certainly not our hearts.
November is National Adoption Month. Through your continued generosity to Lutheran Family and Children’s Services, you can help us serve more children like Jenny, along with their parents who are facing desperate circumstances because of poverty, homelessness, illness, and addiction.
“Today, through our ups and downs, I am SO happy that I can call my family my own,” Jenny said. “And I am happy that LFCS has people like Ms. Joanna to help.”
Last year, generous LFCS donors enabled us to provide safe, stable and permanent homes to 448 children through Foster Care and Adoptive Services. Like Jenny, many of these children had endured years of neglect or abuse.
*Source: https://dss.mo.gov/re/pdf/can/2017-missouri-child-abuse-neglect-annual-report.pdf, page 3, retrieved 09/23/18.