Anglicare Victoria foster carers Di and John welcomed brothers Chris and Cloud into their home when the boys were 3 weeks and 10 months old respectively.
A photo of the brothers, now aged 23 and 24, hangs proudly in their kitchen alongside the dozens of other happy snaps dotted throughout the home.
“They’re just beautiful boys. They’d taken that photo to give to their parents and they gave one to us as well,” Di explained.
“It’s a beautiful feeling looking at it now. On the back of that photo they both wrote a little letter to us thanking us for the care we gave them.”
Anglicare Victoria, the state’s biggest provider of out-of-home care, in partnership with amazing foster carers like Di and John, are this Foster Care Week calling for Victorian households to consider opening their homes and their hearts to a child in need.
“You’ve got to look into the outcome of what you’re trying to do, and it’s mainly helping these kids grow up, for a short time or maybe longer, in a safe place. The hardest thing you have to do is let them go,” John said.
Fostering can take many forms from emergency and respite care, short-term placements, to ongoing care arrangements, and whether you’re married, single, older, younger, with or without kids, or in a same-sex relationship, working full time, renting or owning – everyone can make a positive difference in a child’s life.
“It was really good for my children to realise there are children out there that didn’t have a life like they had and they need to be in another family for a while, so I think they learned a lot over the years,” Di said.
“There was always laughter, sometimes tears of course, but there was always laughter in our home because my children embraced it all. These children that came into our care had our family that loved them and cared for them each day. Every child we put our heart and soul into.”
While foster carers provide the day-to-day care of children, they form part of a care team that makes joint decisions regarding the care of the child, with Anglicare Victoria there to support carers every step of the way.
Last year, Anglicare Victoria oversaw foster care for nearly 800 children and young people and is proud to support about 1000 carers across the state annually.
“I don’t think that much has changed over the 25 years we’ve been caring, the concept of caring for children is still the same and there’s still always someone on the other end of the phone if you need it,” Di said.
Now, Di and John have retired as carers for health issues, but the impact of the many foster care children placed with them over the years will be lifelong.
“There’s so much joy,” John said, looking over the photos to rest his eyes on Chris and Cloud.
“That’s the joy I got out of it, watching them grow up from then to the men they are now.”
Can you provide a safe place for a child in need? Anglicare Victoria runs regular information sessions about all things to do with foster caring. Visit our website to find out when the next one is running near you.
