A Great Day Helping Find Homes for Foster Kids
The vast majority of us did a good job of picking our parents. There are thousands of kids in the Sacramento region however, who did not. Locally, there are about 4,000 children who “chose poorly”, were born into an abusive situation and had to be removed from their homes. They are our foster children.
One’s birth, of course, is not an act of skill. Foster children are just unlucky.
November is National Adoption Month. Adoption is the one thing that can turn the simple unlucky hand that foster kids are dealt at birth into the good luck that the rest of us drew when we were born to our loving parents. National Adoption Month offers us the focus to let good people know about these unlucky children who now have no family and desperately need one.
That’s why Senator George Runner and I sponsored an Adoption Fair this morning at Sunrise Community Church in Fair Oaks. The Adoption Fair brought many community based organizations involved in children’s services and adoption together with people who are interested in adopting foster children or being mentors. We had a great turn out and I am anxious to see how many needed adoptions will result.
It’s also why the annual reading of names event was held at the Capitol this afternoon. Many people came together, including Senator Runner and me, to publicly read the first name of every foster child in the region waiting for the permanent, loving home that adoption would offer. It ended with a candle light vigil. Another opportunity to raise the awareness of the great need for good people willing to adopt.
As I stated, these foster children are “our” foster kids. We must remove children from a situation that threatens their safety, but when we do they become “our” kids. We must do everything we can to protect them and to turn their luck to the normal lucky situation that offers them a loving permanent family and a future of hopeful opportunity.
Are you interested?
