Be Inspired!

I am about halfway through my foster parent training, and it's not nearly as bad as I thought! The PRIDE trainers are knowledgeable and always have a personal story to share to make the material interesting. The foster parent trainer specializes in medically fragile infants - the ones nobody wants to take home. Her last placement was twins whose mother abandoned them at birth because they weren't expected to make it ten days. They now are both in elementary school thanks to kidney transplants. She is an amazing woman, and the people I am taking this class with are just as inspiring!

There is a couple who has custody of their three grandchildren, and are taking the class to learn what issues they might face, and what route for permanency would be best for their kids (adoption, guardianship, etc.). They have put their lives and retirement on hold to care for their grandkids, and are more than happy to be doing so. They are such kind and selfless people.

There is a woman who learned while pregnant that her baby would not live more than a few minutes once born, but she did not terminate the pregnancy. Instead, she delivered her little one and was able to spend ten precious hours with him until he passed away. Instead of being bitter because they will not be able to have biological children, they have decided to start their family through fostering and adoption.

There is a gay couple who are interested in foster-adopting older kids. Because they have experienced adversity in their own lives, they hope to be able to use these experiences to relate to children that everyone else has given up on.

These people make up less than half of the class I'm in. I am inspired every time I learn more about my PRIDE-mates and am so lucky to be attending class with such amazing people!