Archive for April, 2010

Last Tuesday night I had the privilege of joining Celia Kennedy, TYFC Board President, at the monthly Foster Care Support dinner held at Trinity Church.  Each month our fantastic foster care team puts together a great catered meal open to all 120 of our foster families, complete with activities for the kids while the parents head off to some discussion and sharing.  When I first came on staff with TYFC in 2001 I had little understanding of the foster care system and I remember then Executive Director, Tim Skrivan, inviting me to come speak to the foster parents at a dinner.  ”You’ll be amazed at these people…they are our heroes”.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but at the end of that dinner nine years ago I was sold on the ministry of foster care and had a whole new group of personal heroes.

So last week when Jeff and Anna invited me to speak again I was humbled to stand in front of continue

I am a foster care supervisor and jack-of-all-trades at YFC. Today, like many days, was an emotional roller coaster. All of these encounters happened in the midst of a day also filled with many phone calls, emails, and conversations in the YFC office.

My day started with a “settlement conference” at juvenile court: kind of a mediation to negotiate if a mother will relinquish her parental rights so that her two children could be adopted by the foster parents. The mother was grieving through the entire meeting, with many tears flowing. She made the difficult decision to reliquish, with an open adoption agreement to see her children twice a year in the future.

As I left the courtroom, I saw another couple prepare to enter court to relinquish their parental rights to their twins. They kept saying “I’m doing the right thing for my children, right?” They knew the answer, but needed reassurance.

Later, I had to break the sad news to a mom that her baby would have to be moved to another foster home today. More tears were shed. She really wants her child home with her, but has to resolve many problems before that can happen. She had the opportunity to meet the new foster mom for a few minutes.

Then, around noon, a biological dad picked up his 6 month old son to take custody of him. He was SO excited! He brought roses for his YFC case manager and Krispy Kremes for everyone else. (I yielded to temptation and grabbed a Krispy Kreme to go with my yogurt for lunch.)

A toddler was in the office, in the arms of a case aide, on her way to a “goodby visit,” the last visit with her biological mom after over a year of weekly visitation. This little girl does not understand, but this is the last time she will see her biological mom before being adopted by her foster parents. My heart is heavy for the biological mom but also joyful for the foster family.

Then I received an email asking if I had a foster home for a newborn baby girl. A foster family who has two biological sons eagerly said yes to taking her. They will pick her up in the morning from the hospital. And so another foster care journey begins…

– Karen Grove

This past Saturday night I was glued to the television as I commandeered the screen from my daughters to watch the two Final Four basketball games.  Riding high on the euphoria of seeing tiny Butler (only 6 miles from their home campus) beat Michigan State for a spot in today’s national title game, I decided to check in periodically on the West Virginia-Duke game.  Duke continued to pull away for most of the game and I was just about ready to turn it off when something tragic, and touching, happened. continue

I was driving alone down to Maple Lane to visit my friend Jerome for his 17th birthday. I began to reflect on our relational journey. I first met Jerome at the corner store on MLK and 19th; the next time I saw him was in Remann Hall. For whatever reason (perhaps the Holy Spirit?!), we got along really well at Remann Hall and would mutually express excitement to see each other. A few weeks later, Jerome was sent to Maple Lane School to serve the rest of his sentence.

Darrin Miller and I visited Jerome just days after his arrival to Maple Lane and he was pumped to see a couple of guys that were willing to go out of their way to visit him and show our care. We talked about life, girls, school, family, and Jesus. We also played an intense game of dominoes! He mentioned his birthday was soon arriving and I felt this would be a prime opportunity to really show him the love of Christ.

So there I was, driving down to Maple Lane, when all sorts of doubts began to flood into my mind. I was unable to bring anything as a gift because of security precautions; not even a candy bar. Would he be disappointed? What would I even say anyway when we got together, “Um…Happy Birthday…hope your doing well in jail since I saw you two weeks ago…bye…” What was I to say or do to maximize the visit? So many questions…so many doubts…

I arrived at Maple Lane with a number of emotions: excited to see him, nervous about what he would think of our time, anxious about potential awkward moments etc. Soon, all of those fears were washed away as I saw him and he sat down in front of me. We busted out the dominoes, caught up on life and shared a number of stories and laughs. Nearing the end of our two-and-a-half hour visit, Jerome said, “I will never forget this birthday. This is the best birthday I’ve ever had. I can see that God is really looking out for me.” The eyes of my heart were opened wide as I realized the importance of simple relationship. I had no candy, no Jordans, no cake, not even a card; just a visit to say “I’m thinking about you and I care.” Let us continue to make memories in the hearts of youth through love.

-Troy Bass