The one world that continues to resonate through our lives is "village". Growing up in the Black community you hear it takes a village a lot. This adage is very true. There are so many women we call Auntie who are not related by blood. So many who we know have our best interests at heart. We have to stop believing that family only means those who are blood related. We can create families by choosing who to let into our circle. As we open our hearts and homes to children who are in need of love, stability and guidance we have a unique opportunity to accept them into our family. I have to admit this life choice is not for the week at heart not for those who are in it for monetary gains. You have to want to make a difference, whether you get kudos or accolades for the times when all the chips fall into place.
You also have to be strong enough to accept the times when there are setbacks and it seems the world is working against you and this beacon of change you are shinning. This journey may have been started by you but it is not about you. It is about the needs and expectations of the children you come in contact with. It is about how you deal with adversity (and trust me there will be some), it's about celebrating the wins as well as being able to get back up when you feel as if you have given your all. These children depend on you to keep your word. They believe you when you say you will always have their back. This is as big of a commitment to them as the commitment your parents made to you. We are ready to begin our journey and want to take you on it with us.
As three sisters growing up in the West Englewood community in Chicago it was not always been easy to stay focused. We thank our mother for never giving up and encouraging us to pursue our educational goals. As the programs in our community decreased the violence increased. This did not deter us. We continued to foster a love of learning within our household with our mother being our biggest cheerleader. My mom did not just stop at us she took children in from the foster care system as well. To many times there were commercials on channel 9 news asking for black families to step up and do their part. As an educator my mom took this to heart. We all jumped on board and welcomed foster children into our home. To many times these children didn't have all the support systems they needed but we became their family and made up the slack. We remember one mom in particular was not what we expected. She was just a young mom who fell on hard times and like so many others in the community fell prey to the drug epidemic running rampantly all around us. To come out on the other side she was going to need support. We claimed her as family as well. We became her cheerleaders and this made a huge difference for her. She knew the children were in good hands and she had good people to lean on if she faltered. I will not say it was an easy road but together we traveled it will the foster children and their mother. These are the stories that we think about when we think successful reunification. However we also know these stories are few and far in between when it comes to the black community.
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