When I was a little girl, my siblings and I went from group homes to foster homes, from one grandmother’s house to the othergrandmother’s house, due to our parents’ drug use.
Some people might think that, growing up in the foster care system for half my life, I wouldn’t let my children go through the same experiences. Not so. I have five children and—I’m not proud to say this—all five children eventually … Read More
My first day in recovery was Aug. 15, 2001. I will never forget it. Our daughter, who we call Little Mama, was already in foster care. Thatmorning, getting dressed, I tried to look normal. Then my husband and I got on the #6 train to 3rd Avenue. We didn’t even talk. I guess we were both nervous. I couldn’t believe we were finally going for treatment.
For so long I had never … Read More
I went through hell last summer because an angry neighbor called in a child abuse report on me after a neighborhood dispute. I was packing to move when Child Protective Services came. I was also taking care of my 6-year-old son, who is autistic and who was also sick. They insisted that my home was hazardous and tried to put my son in foster care. After a long investigation I was lucky enough … Read More
Last year, I signed up to be trained as a Visit Host, someone who can supervise family visits outside of foster care agency visit rooms. VisitHosting allows families the opportunity to do all the things that families usually do together, like eat out and go to activities in their communities.
I began hosting visits for a couple and their beautiful 2-year-old daughter. We started out with three-hour visits every Tuesday … Read More
The bleeps of the monitors seemed to blare against the glare of the gleaming ivory floor as my husband and I wheeled our six-month-old son down the hospital hallway. I felt my guilt open up like a gash and I hid my tears from my son.
Earlier that day I had pushed my son in his stroller to our Queensbridge apartment building and then tried to pull the stroller up the stairs. … Read More
