Among all the volunteers in the world, there is one common desire, the desire to help others. Foster parents unselfishly do this on a 24/7 basis. They often go unnoticed, misunderstood, and unappreciated, even by the children that they are working so hard to help.

A child may be placed in a foster home for a variety of reasons. The child may have had an great home life before being put into the foster care system, but unfortunately, that is not usually the case. Some of these children have been abused, neglected, or lived through such horrifying experiences, that it would make an adult have nightmares. Then they are taken to a new “home”.

The family that they are suddenly put into may seem strange to them. They may not have ever had a real family life before. Under these circumstances, you are looking at a very stressful time in these children’s lives. It isn’t easy on the foster parents or the foster parent’s other children.

There may be days of stretched patience and the entire group may often find that they are drowning in emotions. Although the system strives to prevent this, it is not an easy job to do. The combining of such different individuals into something resembling a family takes a lot of love and effort.

The foster parents that I have had the pleasure in meeting show an overwhelmingly endless supply of love. They take the good with the bad and keep right on giving of their time, money, and love. They open their hearts to show each child the love and care that they so much need and deserve.

A foster parent from Arizona, has spent many nights sitting up with little ones that are so weak that she is amazed that they have lived as long as they have. She has given them love, shelter, and a somewhat normal life. She has spent years going to yard sales to find clothes, toys, and furniture. She has spent many late nights working on making a room special and just for them.

When she decided to begin volunteering with the foster care system in her state, she knew it was what she wanted to do. Convincing her family it was the right thing to do was a different matter all together. They had previously helped care for severely abused and neglected family members. They knew what they were getting into. At least as much as anyone could.

After explaining the pros and cons to her family and discussing the matter with them, the decision was made. Most of her extended family didn’t think that she was up to the challenge. They were like most family would be in the situation. They felt that she really didn’t know what she was getting her family into.

Regardless of what others thought, the immediate family made the decision to join the foster care system. The desire to help the children was greater than the apprehension that it may be more than they could handle. They took the training classes, had the home inspection, the finger printing and background checks. They passed all the tests to begin fostering.

But that isn’t the ending of this story, but only the beginning. Through the years, they blessed many children by sharing their home with them. These children came to them based upon the profile that they filed out during the application process.

They weren’t always aware of all the special needs the children had when they first came into their home. It’s hard for the governing agency to let them know all the behavioral and developmental problems that the children may have had. The agencies and case workers sometimes were not exposed to the children long enough to fully understand the complexities that came along with each child.

These unknowns made the task of nurturing the children complex enough. Then you often had to take into consideration that they often had diseases when they were brought into the home. There are sometimes lice, ringworm, and a multitude of other infectious diseases to deal with. Sometimes they would find that the rest of their children would be infected from being in contact with the foster children.

The agency provides health cards for the foster children and their medical, mental, and dental bills were covered by insurance. That doesn’t help pay for the cost of over the counter treatments or the cost of taking the other children to the doctor to get them over the diseases that have been brought into your home.

The agency also provides a living allowance for the foster children. This will mainly cover some of the cost of the clothing, food, and educational materials needed. But we are talking basic necessities here. Not extravagant things like video games and scooters.

When you think about it, it is almost a wonder that anyone would want to subject their family to such conditions. But then you see the smile of a child, that the foster parents have helped. You see them growing stronger every day. You see them learning to share and love. You see them make friends and blossom in the loving environment of the foster family.

The foster children are not the only ones to benefit from this situation though. The foster parents are blessed with the knowledge that they are helping to hopefully break the cycle of despair that often surrounds these children’s lives. They get to see the child grow to love themselves and others. Sometimes, they even get to see them grow into happy, healthy, prosperous adults. It is the hope that the outcome of each child will be the positive one that keeps these very under appreciated volunteers taking in more children each year.

If you have the love to share, consider becoming a foster parent. If you don’t have the option of fostering, but know someone who does, let them know how much you appreciate the very important job that they do on a daily basis. If you have the opportunity, ask if you can help lighten their load in anyway. Even volunteers need help every now and then.