May is National Foster Care Month. Buckner has many families dedicated to providing temporary care for a child or sibling group while in foster care. In 2023, there were 9,965 children removed and placed in foster care in Texas and more than 30,000 children in foster care. 

While foster care is all about providing temporary care to displaced children, it’s also important to recognize the emotional toll it can take on foster parents, their families and the community surrounding them. Loving a child unconditionally and then joyfully supporting reunification can be a juxtaposition of many emotions.

While becoming a foster parent is usually considered a calling, being a foster-friendly community is also a calling as a Christian community.

“Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” – Isaiah 1:17

Coming alongside foster families in the journey is imperative not only when the child is placed with them, but also through reunification with a birth parent, relative or family friend. These families experience grief and loss and joy.

As someone who has fostered, I want to encourage you to embrace the lasting joyful memories you experience as a family with these children. Don’t be afraid to love the children, laugh with them or even set boundaries with them.

You are showing Jesus’ love to them every day during a traumatic and scary period of life.
If you’re not a current foster parent, as Christians, we have the opportunity to surround these families with prayer, love and encouragement.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13

Written by Andi Harrison, regional director for Buckner Foster Care and Adoption in Dallas, Fort Worth and the Rio Grande Valley. She’s been with Buckner 12 years and has worked in the foster care industry for more than two decades. But her biggest achievement is being married to her husband, Taylor, and having three boys, Hayden, Colin and Hank. Their family fostered and adopted their son Hank in 2018.

Find out how you can make a difference this National Foster Care Month.