*Baby Chandra arrived at *Marie and *Sydney’s on a holiday weekend in donated clothes. Outside of the standard hospital issue of a blanket, some formula bottles, and a few diapers to get through the night, Baby Chandra had nothing.
She still had tremors and cried incessantly. Finding ways to soothe her seemed almost impossible.
It took the skill of a nurse, turned foster mom, and her daughter to help *Baby Chandra through the long nights of withdrawal, holding and comforting her until finally the withdrawal symptoms subsided.
And while *Baby Chandra was better, that was only half the story.
*Baby Chandra’s mom, *Kiandra did not give up her parenting rights. She was fighting a battle of her own to put her addiction behind her and complete a court ordered case plan so that Baby Chandra could come home.
*Marie and *Sydney knew that part of their job as foster parents was to nurture the relationship between biological parents and their children. With the help of their case managers, they made bonding visits possible.
Then *Kiandra had a few relapses. That’s when *Kiandra realized that if she didn’t do everything in the case plan, that it wouldn’t be safe for *Baby Chandra to come home. That could mean that she would miss the opportunity to have a relationship with her baby forever.
The day *Kiandra decided that she wanted to be a mom to *Baby Chandra more than she wanted to be addicted, was the day life changed forever, for the good, for her and her baby.
The remarkable fortitude and strength shown by *Kiandra through multiple setbacks, with every effort supported through SCC programs, is a reminder that every gift in support of Foster Care, Adoption, and Prevention and Diversion programs impacts the life of a child.
We’ll tell you all about the twists and turns of *Kiandra’s recovery and everyone’s role – foster parents and case managers – in Part 3.
We can’t wait though to ask you to help. Your year-end gift will support services like Foster Care, Adoption, and Prevention and Diversion programs like Youth Prevention Services, the Fatherhood Program, Schoolhouse Link, Achievers, a Youth Shelter for homeless teens, and more.