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This past week has been an incredible one for all of us here at William Campbell Foundation and we hope you’ve experienced a similar feeling of thankfulness.
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For those unaware, this past week has been Foster Care Week, and for us and other agencies within the sector, this week was filled with a lot of reflection. We all took the week to reflect on the amazing work of our foster carers do in providing loving and caring homes for children in care.
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Foster Care Week is a chance for us to give back to our carers who give so much of themselves for children and young people in care. We say thank you in a number of ways, and have done so for several years, acknowledging the amazing work our carers do and taking the opportunity to get beside them once again. We have said thank you in a number of different ways; publicly here and on our social media accounts, to friends and colleagues when discussing these care givers, and personally to our carers. This week we have attended events organised and sent special cards and gifts to our carers to reiterate our gratitude.
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It goes without saying that the job our carers take on in an immense one; one that comes with twists and turns, and unfortunately we are constantly in need of additional carers to care for the 17879 children and young people in the out of home care system.
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“It’s been the hardest thing I’ve done… [But] becoming a carer was the best thing we’ve done.”
– Mick and Monique
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The children and young adults they provide loving homes and security to are people who are displaced and confused;
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“What we found was that these kids had very low self-esteem and had been poorly treated, and felt very worthless. We made them the heroes of their stories, and it built [them] up.”
– Alan and Shirley
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Our carers have time and again shown us compassion and hope through their selfless act of love, and often without the want or need for recognition. In our conversation with Alan and Shirley it become incredibility apparent that gratification and praise is not even a thought in their mind when offering in care, instead the major aspects which encourage them to provide support is that they have seen firsthand that by building them up, and providing hope and stability, they can change the lives of child who have had a tough start to life.
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“We open up the possibilities that even though your life’s not great, there’s a future there for you, if you learn how to read, do well at school, it’s a stepping stone to the next step… there is a future for them, there are people out there that care for them and want to see them succeed and grow to their full potential, and give them the opportunities they deserve, an education, love, and a safe environment.”
– Alan and Shirley
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If you would like to discuss in further detail or would like to start your own foster care journey please fill out an enquiry form by clicking here or call us on 1300 000 WCF.
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