Why Being a Foster Parent is Rewarding
“Parenting, by its very nature, is future directed,” Emily Rapp says in her book, The Still Point of the Turning World, a grief memoir, as The New York Times calls it. That’s true for most parents, but what about when you care for a child in foster care?
Could You be a Foster Parent?
For some, the question of whether or not they can foster kids with special needs may be an easy one, especially if they already have some experience, whether through their personal life or their work. Given the restrictions that you need to work with when you care for children with special needs, you may take a longer time to decide.
Is it Worth it?
If you want to make a difference in someone’s life, then, yes, it is worth it. What’s going to be involved is care that isn’t future directed—graduations, career, etc. aren’t promised. What makes the experience ultimately rewarding is that fostering is done for nothing else, but the implicit humanity in the act.
How You Can Help
If you aren’t ready to care for children in foster care, you can still help out by sending donations to children in foster care. When you send donations to children in foster care, choose groups like The Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation. The organization funds activities that provide kids with a chance to have fun and teach them how to be a child. Seeing them laugh and lose themselves in the moment can be a huge step forward in their development. And being a part of that is immensely a worthwhile effort.
In the end, caring for a child in foster care is rewarding, not because of what it can bring you, but for what it can do: it can change someone’s life. But if you aren’t ready to take this step, then donating can also help affect positive change for special-needs kids in foster care.