Unfortunately, some children never have the benefit of loving parents, of a warm forever home to call their own, and this simply is not right. Strong families help children feel safe and secure. Strong families have warmth and care, good communication, predictability, and strong connections to others outside the family. Looking after yourself is good for your family and good for you. Being warm, caring and affectionate with your child helps to build strong family relationships.
Couple Will and Julie have no biological kids of their own, but they felt that they had something to give – not just their home – and so said yes to fostering five siblings, William, Truth, Marianna, Keyora and KJ who otherwise might have been separated by the system. Will says he was super excited to become a father, while Julie even switched jobs so that she could spend more time with the kids. Put plainly, this loving couple were made to be parents – they’d been fostering children for an incredible 10 years – and it just so happened that they chanced upon a set of children who were in need of a loving home.
The siblings had reportedly been placed in foster care owing to environments that were deemed unhealthy for their age. Of taking the children in, Julie said: “We’ve always said that when we had children come into our home, we would never have them uprooted another time. If the opportunity came along, that we would just keep them. It’s extremely important that they do stay together because they’ve lost so much from their past.” And Julie and Will were true to their word; they didn’t hesitate for a second when, after three years of fostering the kids, they got the opportunity to officially adopt them.
The would-be family assembled in a courtroom before Judge Winkler. Judge Winkler knew it would be nothing less than cruel to not grant Will and Julie full custody of the children, and so made it official before gathered friends, family and teachers who work at the kids’ school. “I am excited and happy for the family and their future together,” Winkler told ABC News. “They changed 5 siblings’ lives forever by adopting them into a safe, loving and caring family. My greatest hope is that the family’s 5 adoptions will encourage more and more good people to adopt children.” “They’re already part of our family,” Julie said at the time. “This is an official rubber stamp as someone said earlier, but they’ve been a part of our family and we love them dearly.”