Meet a Foster Family: Phillip and Laurie
Phillip and Laurie find themselves in a healthy mix of boys (ages 10, 6 and 4 months) and girls (6 and 1), who love the outdoors and who are self-proclaimed loud, curious and lots of fun! On any given weekend you can find them camping, geocaching, hiking and playing Pokemon Go! They also enjoy their community and love taking short day trips to check out all that the Upstate of South Carolina has to offer. Laurie spends her days raising the children at home and Phillip works as a Customer Service Supervisor, both are ALL IN with the Clemson Tigers and love to watch football.
Fostering was something they began talking about as they were dating. Both knew it would be a part of their future, but weren’t sure when. Licensed through DSS for 5 years, they have had over 10 children in their home long term and a handful of short term placements. The children that have passed through their home have been anywhere from 4 days to 6 years old. Like many foster parents, even with their early and solid desires to be a safe haven for these children, they had hesitations and questions.
Having already had biological children, one of the things that concerned them most was how saying goodbye would affect the young children they brought with them on this journey. Laurie said “choosing this for yourself as an adult is one thing, but it’s’ a really tough thing to choose for your children.” But, after some really hard goodbyes, they feel that it has only proved to better them all. When reflecting on how the hard balances out with the good, she says “I have to believe that they will grow up to be more compassionate adults because we have done something hard as a family and they know that loving and taking care of others is always worth it.” Their motivation is seeing children who have been scared and upset start to laugh and allow themselves to enjoy their new home. Her sage wisdom for us all is that, “when you have more than you need, build a bigger table, not a higher fence.” This family is doing just that.
At Fostering Great Ideas, we believe that anyone who can provide a loving and stable home would make a great foster parent. We need diverse foster parents across our nation, just as there are diverse children and youth entering care through no fault of their own. The greatest needs are often for families that will welcome sibling groups and older children or teenagers.
Stepping into foster care can be daunting. But that’s why we are here! We want to help you figure out what your role might be – whether that is fostering, adopting, volunteering, donating, or advocating. Everyone can do something! Contact us connect@fgi4kids.org. We can’t wait to talk to you!
