Success Stories
When the Cowboy Boot Fits Perfectly
John was placed in foster care in 2011 when he was only four years old. John struggled to find a home that could meet his specific learning and behavioral needs. After experiencing several moves in the foster care system, John came to the Home’s Residential Treatment Center (RTC) in 2019, when he was 12 years old. In the RTC, John created genuine connections with his caregivers and his physical therapist Gwen Tao.
Gwen and her husband Pete had previously adopted three children and thought their family was complete, that is until Gwen met John. Gwen learned about John’s specific needs and it was evident he felt very safe with her. They connected over their love of country music, cowboy boots, and motorcycles. As John was nearing the end of his treatment at the RTC, Gwen knew that she and Pete could be the family that John really needed. Therefore, they opened up their home again and he was welcomed into their family of three boys.
With the support of Helping Hand Home’s family support program, John has thrived in his new home. On December 8, 2021, the Tao family all wore cowboy boots to celebrate John’s adoption!
The Sooch Family
Baby Beau came into foster care in 2019 at the time of his birth. He was in the NICU for two weeks and was placed in the Sooch family home. The Home’s foster care case manager supported the Sooch family by working hand-in-hand to schedule much needed therapies and services to meet Beau’s developmental and medical needs.
Alexandria and Kevin originally opened their home to help with emergency foster care and to support family reunification. They are very supportive of Beau’s biological family, some who were even present on Beau’s adoption day!
The Sooch family continues to foster newborns on a temporary basis to help fellow Helping Hand Home foster parents who need time to prepare for their placement. They are invaluable members of our foster parent community, always willing to help when needed! Alexandria also contributes her time as a volunteer member of the Home’s Community Advisory Board.
Finally a Forever Family
For 1,445 days Mark and Anna Polanco opened their home and their hearts to 17 different children with a history of trauma, challenging behaviors, and special needs. All of these children had two things in common. Whether short or long-term, they all needed safe and loving adults to care for them. The Polancos have been that and so much more to children in foster care.
After four years filled with laughter, and the hard work of parenting, Mark and Anna Polanco officially became the proud parents of Caleb, Faith, and grace. March 24, 2017 was not only a life-changing day for three precious children, but for two dedicated and selfless new parents as well.
Coming Full Circle
Melissa and Colin have made a life-long commitment to improving the lives of children who were once in foster care. As a former foster child herself, Melissa understands the importance of stability, unwavering commitment, and having a place to call home.
This is exactly what they have provided for their two children: Sabrina, adopted June of 2017, and Ty, adopted November of 2014. They are now an official family of four, filled with hopes and dreams for their children.
Ready for Love
From day one, Jordan and Lindsay Bisby were committed to adopting children in foster care with higher needs. They fully immersed themselves into our “Families First” program, where they received more than 40 hours of specialized training to help prepare them for parenting children with higher needs as a result of trauma.
The Bisbys used the skills learned at Helping Hand Home along with in-home support from our Foster and Adoption team to help their children come to a place of healing and security. After eight months of dedication, patience, and building trust they celebrated the adoption of their two beautiful children, Cassie and Devon in July 2017.
Our Journey to Adoption, Written By Lee Ann Kahlor
There are a lot of reasons why people choose to adopt. We had always considered adoption as a way to build our family. When we were ready to adopt – 11 years ago now –we pursued private adoption with an agency that facilitated transracial adoptions. As we were educating ourselves about adoption, we learned that there were so many children of different races that needed good homes, and we embraced the opportunity to be a diverse family. We adopted three children that way, Mabel, 11, Gigi, 8, and Felix, 6. It’s been a match made in heaven – three times over.
Back when we were considering a second child, we looked into the option of fostering-to-adopt a child through the foster care system. We even attended a meeting in Austin with Child Protective Services (CPS). Ultimately, though, we felt we weren’t ready to deal with the uncertainty of it: Imagining that we might have to say goodbye to a child after becoming attached was too scary. We were also intimidated by the CPS process, which seemed so big and cold and impersonal. So, for kids two and three (Gigi and Felix), we went with the same private agency that helped us to adopt Mabel, our oldest.
But each time we adopted privately, we noticed that a wonderful thing was happening. Minority children were not as difficult to place as they once were. So by the time we were considering a fourth child, it had become clear that if we wanted to adopt a child that was at risk of not finding a good home, perhaps we should take another look at Austin’s foster-to-adopt programs. It was at this point that we noticed that Helping Hand Home had a foster-to-adopt program and would help us navigate the CPS system so we didn’t have to do it alone.
Serving as our child placement agency, HHH arranged all of our home studies, trained us to become verified and helped ease us into the predictably unpredictable world of foster care. Through the trainings they provided, we learned how to be better parents to all our children. We also learned compassion for everyone who is touched by the foster care system: the children, of course, but also the parents and families who are trying hard to keep their children with them. We learned to feel for those who struggle with loss, addiction, poverty, violence and love. We also became comfortable with our boundaries – we all have them – and were able to communicate with HHH what we saw as a good fit for our family in terms of the right age range and level of special needs we could handle as a family.
In sum, working with HHH has made us better and more compassionate people and better parents. Being a foster family has also made our children more compassionate and willing to give of themselves. We are now a family of seven! In other words, we adopted two children through Helping Hand Home, for a total of five children. It was a long journey and it was never easy. But our family is so resilient and happy as a result of the journey. We don’t take anything for granted. And we find great strength in knowing that our family is at a place where children can rise from desperate circumstances and reach their full potential. It is a wonderful feeling, and we are so glad we chose foster care and HHH to get us to this strong and happy place.
