Jason and Suzanne Hart will readily admit being a foster parent isn’t easy.
Ten years ago the then childless couple was exploring adoption options through the Thunder Bay chapter of the Children’s Aid Society.
Convinced it was the right thing to do, they took in a seven-year-old boy and his two sisters, aged 12 and five.
A decade later, they’re all still together, one big happy family that has since been joined by the Hart’s two birth children.
Though there have been hurdles along the way – the boy and his youngest sister were once court-ordered back to their original home, where they stayed for a year – it’s just made their bond with the now nearly grown children stronger.
“We’re determined to see this through and see them grow up into amazing adults,” said Suzanne. “It’s important to us and we have really no regrets whatsoever.”
It’s also why the Harts have agreed to be the face of the Children’s Aid Society’s latest foster parent recruitment campaign, labeled “We care, do you?”
The need has never been greater, said CAS executive director Rob Richardson.
More than 200 children are under Children’s Aid Society care, in need of a loving parent or parents to step forward and offer the love, acceptance and guidance they so desperately seek.
“Two hundred would be ideal. Obviously any number below that would be acceptable. We are really hoping for a significant turnout from the community to help us out in this situation,” said Richardson, whose organization symbolically released 200 balloons into the sky on Tuesday, representing a journey as well as aspirations, goals and renewed hope.
“The situation is critical in the sense that we have kids in our care that we’re not able to offer them the appropriate kind of placement.
“We have kids sitting waiting needing permanent placement. So it is critical. It’s something that we believe that we need to aggressively go out to the community. We have not done this in a great deal of time, because we’ve always had enough resources.”
Those resources have disappeared over time, he added, pointing to the economy and out-migration of many foster families as two reasons why the shortage exists today.
Though there are strict background checks on potential foster parents, CAS’s manager of foster care and adoption said foster and adoptive parents come from all walks of life.
“Whether you are married, single, younger, older, common-law, heterosexual, gay, lesbian, with or without children or of diverse cultures and ethnicities, anyone can be a foster parent. What you must share is a willingness to care for a child, who through no fault of their own, cannot live with his or her own parents,” Gosselin said.
The payoff is hard to put in words, Suzanne said.
“I would encourage it,” Suzanne said. “It’s hard. I’m not going to try to tell you that it isn’t hard, because it is. But it’s also incredibly rewarding … Life is good.”
Ten years ago the then childless couple was exploring adoption options through the Thunder Bay chapter of the Children’s Aid Society.
Convinced it was the right thing to do, they took in a seven-year-old boy and his two sisters, aged 12 and five.
A decade later, they’re all still together, one big happy family that has since been joined by the Hart’s two birth children.
Though there have been hurdles along the way – the boy and his youngest sister were once court-ordered back to their original home, where they stayed for a year – it’s just made their bond with the now nearly grown children stronger.
“We’re determined to see this through and see them grow up into amazing adults,” said Suzanne. “It’s important to us and we have really no regrets whatsoever.”
It’s also why the Harts have agreed to be the face of the Children’s Aid Society’s latest foster parent recruitment campaign, labeled “We care, do you?”
The need has never been greater, said CAS executive director Rob Richardson.
More than 200 children are under Children’s Aid Society care, in need of a loving parent or parents to step forward and offer the love, acceptance and guidance they so desperately seek.
“Two hundred would be ideal. Obviously any number below that would be acceptable. We are really hoping for a significant turnout from the community to help us out in this situation,” said Richardson, whose organization symbolically released 200 balloons into the sky on Tuesday, representing a journey as well as aspirations, goals and renewed hope.
“The situation is critical in the sense that we have kids in our care that we’re not able to offer them the appropriate kind of placement.
“We have kids sitting waiting needing permanent placement. So it is critical. It’s something that we believe that we need to aggressively go out to the community. We have not done this in a great deal of time, because we’ve always had enough resources.”
Those resources have disappeared over time, he added, pointing to the economy and out-migration of many foster families as two reasons why the shortage exists today.
Though there are strict background checks on potential foster parents, CAS’s manager of foster care and adoption said foster and adoptive parents come from all walks of life.
“Whether you are married, single, younger, older, common-law, heterosexual, gay, lesbian, with or without children or of diverse cultures and ethnicities, anyone can be a foster parent. What you must share is a willingness to care for a child, who through no fault of their own, cannot live with his or her own parents,” Gosselin said.
The payoff is hard to put in words, Suzanne said.
“I would encourage it,” Suzanne said. “It’s hard. I’m not going to try to tell you that it isn’t hard, because it is. But it’s also incredibly rewarding … Life is good.”
