Testimonial - Alyson and James Kornsey
My husband Jim and I started fostering 9 years ago, at a time when our own sons were prospering and secure. I had worked as a BHP and had recently chosen to switch paths in life from pursuing my MSW to an MBA, mainly because I couldn't walk away from kids in need, and taking them home with me was frowned on! So, we went through the licensing process with Community Care, who helped us navigate the very long and involved mystery that licensing was at the time. With my experience we were able to start as a therapeutic family and our placements were vetted by Community Care to help us accept kiddos that were 'good fits' for our family.
Now, nine years later my husband and I are bruised and battered but still standing. We have held those kids who hate the skin they wear, who eat and eat and are never full, who yell and scream and hit and spit to keep us at a distance, who break our things and tell us to give up. We are still standing, and so are every one of the kids we have had the honor to share our home with!
And, when the kids need more help than we can give, Community Care has been there with supports: workers to focus on specific treatment goals, Case Managers to keep us on track with administrative tasks that expand when crisis becomes your norm, helping us recognize what we can and can't do, and of course finding respite even when it doesn't exist! We could never have done it without the Community Care Team at the other end of the foster parent emergency pager, giving us direction and advice when chaos erupts, and those trainings that bring our community of foster families and the Community Care Team together to realize none of us are alone in this work...
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