MENTOR PROGRAM-SUCCESS -- AMBER

A Family For Every Child would like to thank you for believing that every child deserves a family. Your support has enabled A Family For Every Child to make a difference in the lives of our children in foster care. Because of your support, all of our programs have been busy serving children in foster care and families going through the adoption process. As we like to do from time to time, we hope by sharing current situation/stories of children in foster care, or those that have grown up and out, we might shed some light on why your involvement and support is so important. Amber is a teenage girl in the foster care system who has been living in a drug and alcohol treatment center. Through A Family for Every Child's Mentor Program, she met Alena, one of AFFEC's adult mentors who helps to fill a critical need in the lives of foster kids. By spending approximately 10 hours a month with a foster child, mentors can be the caring, stable, and supportive adult that these children might not have otherwise. These relationships can give children a sense of security, confidence, and connection with a grownup who can help them through the difficult transitions in their lives. At the time of this story, Alena was considering becoming Amber's foster parent. Here is Alena's story about their relationship so far: "We invited Amber to our home for an early Christmas dinner where she met my parents and nieces. The girls really hit it off. They played Wii games and took pictures posing by the pretty white tree. They danced, and just had a really good time. Amber quoted a Scripture passage prior to saying grace. That touched everyone's hearts! She gave my husband and me Christmas presents, too. It was darling. A few days later I took Amber to the mall. We shopped for new MAC makeup and some clothes that fit her. She felt spoiled! Since that time Amber has had some trouble at the treatment center and is not allowed to leave, so my husband and I went to visit her. We talked and played Uno, and my husband drew her a Nike sneaker with her name and favorite things on it -- she really liked that! In the time we've spent together, Amber has opened up to me about her past. Specifically, she's talked with me about her drug use and her desire to never do those things again. She's shared with me some of the everyday struggles of being trapped in the treatment center. We've talked a little about what our expectations will be if and when she comes to stay with us. I want to trust her, but I worry she may just be saying what she thinks I want to hear. But I feel a true connection to Amber. It's strange how someone can have that effect on another. She is truly special and I cannot wait to welcome her into my home and give her a life she has never had. I only hope she will trust us enough to receive it." The sweet 16 birthday party that Amber's Mentor threw for her. We want to wish all of our mentors a special "Thank you!" for all of your help and support. From all of us at A Family For Every Child, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It is only through the generosity and support of community members like you that we are able to make a real difference in the lives of our children in foster care. Together we can find a family for every child.