According to recent data presented by the Children’s Bureau, the number of children in foster care nationwide is approximately 424,000. In Tennessee only, there are slightly less than 8,000 children who are waiting to be reunited with their families or find a forever home with people who would love them unconditionally. The sad reality is that the number of foster families in this state is less than 4,000.
Up until recently, one of those kids who found themselves in the system was 12-year-old Andrew from Nashville. This lovely boy spent half his life going from one family to another. However, that changed when he was welcomed in by a special foster family; the Gills.
Kevin and Dominique Gill have a son on their own, Joc, who made very good friends with Andrew the moment they first met. The boys just love hanging out together. They spend their time playing games, taking walks, and doing a bunch of fun stuff. Realizing how close the boys became, Kevin and Dominique decided to let them be best friends forever by filing adoption papers.
Andrew had no idea he was about to become an official member of the Gill family. One day, as he was taking a walk at the park with Molly Parker, an employee at the Youth Villages, he was met with the news that his foster parents are adopting him.
“I just turned around the corner and saw everybody,” Andrew said. “They asked ‘will you?’ and I said ‘yeah!’
Besides being best friends, these boys now became brothers. Isn’t that the most beautiful thing ever?
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Wish list written by a foster child in Oklahoma
Dreamcatchers for Abused Children is a non-profit organization devoted to reform of abused children. According to their website, their main goal is to “educate the public on all aspects of child abuse such as symptoms, intervention, prevention, statistics, reporting, and helping victims locate the proper resources necessary to achieve a full recovery.”
Recently, the organization shared a heartbreaking list written by a child from Oklahoma who ended up in the foster system after enduring severe abuse from both his parents who were heavy alcoholics. The boy never experienced love or the joys a childhood normally brings. All he ever knew was negligence and starvation.
Years went by before a neighbor noticed that horrible things were taking place in the boy’s home and decided to alert social services.
Once police intervened, the boy was taken to the Dreamcatchers for Abused Children organization who made sure the little one ends in a new and loving home.
Finally, when the organization found the perfect family and shared the great news with the boy, he made a wish list on which he included all the things he wanted in his new forever home.
Needless to say, the list melted many people’s hearts. Many took their time to comment how the things on the list are not something a child should dream of because they should have them automatically as most of them are just basic needs.
This is the list:
“Things I want in my family:
I want food and water.
Don’t hit on me.
A house with running water and lights.
I want love.
Mom and dad don’t fight.
I want no drugs.
Don’t kill my pets.
Help with school.
Nice clean clothes.
No lice. No bug in house.
Clean house.
Clean bed with covers.
Don’t sell my toys.
Treated fair.
Don’t get drunk.
Tv in house.
Let me keep my school stuff.
Nice shoes.
My own comb soap. Nice house and safe and heater coat.
Toothbrush.”
This list is a reminder that we should never take the things we have for granted.
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