I guess you could say it started about 7 years ago, I was asked if I wanted to travel to Livingston, Zambia in Africa to volunteer on a farm. I was told there was a school, a clinic and an orphanage on this farm and I could work wherever I felt my calling to be. At the time, I was a preschool aide taking time off college to "find myself" and finally pick a major. Without hesitation I said yes! I couldn't wait to jet off to another continent and try and make a difference. What I didn't know would happen is that trip would make a difference in myself, not just the people I met while there.
I spent my time in the orphanage. It was where I wanted to be. The kids were always smiling and so happy to have visitors. While I was there 2 kids got to go home with their families. One child, lets call him "K" was really struggling with leaving. He was heartbroken to leave all the kids and the people who raised him over the last 5 years, but his family was now able to care for him and could take him back to their village. I struggled with understanding what was best for this child. One of the women working at the farm explained something very important to me that I will never forget. Sometimes we have to take paths that are hard but we must trust that nothing will be too hard for us to face. Little K is better off to be with his family who can love him and provide for him now. Though it was hard for him to walk away from these "brothers and sisters" home is where he belonged.
I came home from Africa and immediately said, I want to be a social worker and work with kids in the system. I googled "orphanages Dayton, Ohio" and this link popped up to a Group Home in the area. I had no idea what I was going to be getting into or even what a Group Home was, but I put my resume in, interviewed and BAM was hired. I thought Africa changed me, nothing prepared me for the kids in the group home. Each one of them will forever be my boys. See I worked with teen boys in the group home whose chance of getting adopted or going back home were slim to none. They weren't going to have a Little K moment, they were going to have to learn to be an adult at 18 and do it better than I was doing at 22. They didn't have a choice. I tried my hardest to make their situation better. Whether it be the person to listen when they were having a melt down, bad day or even the greatest day. My job was not to judge but to guide, to help them learn and succeed so they didn't become a statistic when they aged out of the system. I think I did a good job at it (at least my boys who still keep in contact tell me I did) and it was challenging many days, but I loved working with kids and being a constant in their life that they were needing at the time.
The frustrating part of life came when I graduated college and received my license in social work. See working direct care, you only need a high school diploma and I was officially over qualified to do what I was doing. I attempted to be a case manager but was told I needed more experience. I was stuck between moving forward in my career (with a different population) and staying with my boys. Ultimately, I decided to move forward in my career and left working at the group home but there wasn't a day that went by I wasn't talking about my boys to someone.
Flash forward to May 2015 when I bought my first home!! My realtor thought I was a crazy person when I kept saying I need 3 bedrooms; my room, the office and the kids room. He just kept saying, "but you don't have any kids!" I would always respond, "yet." My plan was to be a parent by 28. So when I bought my house at 27, it became game on.
In December of 2015, I called and discussed Foster Parenting with Montgomery County Children's Services. I knew there were private agencies out there but after working for a different county, I felt I knew the system enough to be an asset as a county Foster Parent. I did my informational meeting that December and submitted my application right before the new year. Driving to the post office that day was the most exhilarating experience, I couldn't believe I was finally doing it. I received my Social worker in January and started classes immediately.
Upon first meeting my social worker, she expressed to me that placement could be as soon as all my classes were done, at the time that would have been April 2016. I was shocked. I was under the impression this was going to be a 6 month process NOT 4 months. I went into a little panic mode for a moment. It wasn't until I got my schedule and CPR was not until June. I was able to take a deep breath and go, I can be ready by June. When June came, my social worker was out on emergency sick leave without anyone covering her cases. As a case worker myself, I felt for her so much. I could only imagine. This empathy is the only thing that kept me going. She was out of the office until mid July and couldn't complete my last visit until the end of July. From that visit she had 30 days to get me licensed. I tried not to annoy her too much with follow up but I was definitely ready for a placement.
As of the end of August, and the start of the Fisher Family Foster Blog, I am still waiting for the process to finally wrap up and placement to begin.
I spent my time in the orphanage. It was where I wanted to be. The kids were always smiling and so happy to have visitors. While I was there 2 kids got to go home with their families. One child, lets call him "K" was really struggling with leaving. He was heartbroken to leave all the kids and the people who raised him over the last 5 years, but his family was now able to care for him and could take him back to their village. I struggled with understanding what was best for this child. One of the women working at the farm explained something very important to me that I will never forget. Sometimes we have to take paths that are hard but we must trust that nothing will be too hard for us to face. Little K is better off to be with his family who can love him and provide for him now. Though it was hard for him to walk away from these "brothers and sisters" home is where he belonged.
I came home from Africa and immediately said, I want to be a social worker and work with kids in the system. I googled "orphanages Dayton, Ohio" and this link popped up to a Group Home in the area. I had no idea what I was going to be getting into or even what a Group Home was, but I put my resume in, interviewed and BAM was hired. I thought Africa changed me, nothing prepared me for the kids in the group home. Each one of them will forever be my boys. See I worked with teen boys in the group home whose chance of getting adopted or going back home were slim to none. They weren't going to have a Little K moment, they were going to have to learn to be an adult at 18 and do it better than I was doing at 22. They didn't have a choice. I tried my hardest to make their situation better. Whether it be the person to listen when they were having a melt down, bad day or even the greatest day. My job was not to judge but to guide, to help them learn and succeed so they didn't become a statistic when they aged out of the system. I think I did a good job at it (at least my boys who still keep in contact tell me I did) and it was challenging many days, but I loved working with kids and being a constant in their life that they were needing at the time.
The frustrating part of life came when I graduated college and received my license in social work. See working direct care, you only need a high school diploma and I was officially over qualified to do what I was doing. I attempted to be a case manager but was told I needed more experience. I was stuck between moving forward in my career (with a different population) and staying with my boys. Ultimately, I decided to move forward in my career and left working at the group home but there wasn't a day that went by I wasn't talking about my boys to someone.
Flash forward to May 2015 when I bought my first home!! My realtor thought I was a crazy person when I kept saying I need 3 bedrooms; my room, the office and the kids room. He just kept saying, "but you don't have any kids!" I would always respond, "yet." My plan was to be a parent by 28. So when I bought my house at 27, it became game on.
In December of 2015, I called and discussed Foster Parenting with Montgomery County Children's Services. I knew there were private agencies out there but after working for a different county, I felt I knew the system enough to be an asset as a county Foster Parent. I did my informational meeting that December and submitted my application right before the new year. Driving to the post office that day was the most exhilarating experience, I couldn't believe I was finally doing it. I received my Social worker in January and started classes immediately.
Upon first meeting my social worker, she expressed to me that placement could be as soon as all my classes were done, at the time that would have been April 2016. I was shocked. I was under the impression this was going to be a 6 month process NOT 4 months. I went into a little panic mode for a moment. It wasn't until I got my schedule and CPR was not until June. I was able to take a deep breath and go, I can be ready by June. When June came, my social worker was out on emergency sick leave without anyone covering her cases. As a case worker myself, I felt for her so much. I could only imagine. This empathy is the only thing that kept me going. She was out of the office until mid July and couldn't complete my last visit until the end of July. From that visit she had 30 days to get me licensed. I tried not to annoy her too much with follow up but I was definitely ready for a placement.
As of the end of August, and the start of the Fisher Family Foster Blog, I am still waiting for the process to finally wrap up and placement to begin.
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