Lauren Baron
BRANT NEWS

After finding out they couldn’t have biological children, Heather Blakeley and her husband, Craig, didn’t think they would ever be happy again.

Then they discovered foster parenting.

“We put out $30,000 in fertility treatments and never thought we would have this connection to family,” Blakeley said. “Wow, do we ever have family now. I’ve never been happier.”

The Blakeleys adopted their two children, Franklin, 15 and Victoria, 11, from foster families through the Children’s Aid Society of Brant. Seeing the need for foster families in the area, they decided to take in foster children of their own. Over the last seven years they’ve fostered 18 children.

“We thought we were going to change the world,” Blakeley said. “I can tell you that our world has changed.”

The Children’s Aid Society of Brant is currently experiencing a significant shortage of foster parents able to provide temporary or permanent care for children and youth, said CAS Brant resource parent recruiter and trainer Carrie Davidson.

There are currently 330 children and youth within the fostering system in Brant. CAS Brant is appealing to local individuals and families to take on the role of foster parent.

“Without nurturing, stable and caring foster families within the area, the society has no other alternative but to seek placements outside of Brantford and Brant County,” Davidson said. “Ensuring foster children and youth remain close to their family, school, friends and the community they know is critical in order to minimize the amount of disruption that they experience.”

Anyone can contact the Children’s Aid Society of Brant to apply to become a foster parent, whether single, married, living in a common-law or same-sex relationship, Davidson said.

The process for approval involves obtaining record checks, pre-service training and a home study.

“The application and approval process is important, as it gives families an opportunity to explore whether fostering is right for them and allows for the society to assess the family’s suitability, as well as the type of child that would best benefit from their home,” Davidson said.

The Blakeleys’ focus is on foster children with special and high needs. Their son, Franklin, was born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and daughter, Victoria, was born with microcephaly.

“I quit my job to stay at home because childcare was hard to come across for special needs children,” Blakeley said. “Fostering gave me the ability to stay home and help others.”

As a foster parent, Blakeley is responsible for providing children with a temporary home, getting them to school, providing food, taking them to appointments and visits with family, as well as taking them to any extra-curricular activities the children may participate in.

“You are the surrogate family,” she said. “You do everything you would do for your own children.”

While she loves the children that come into her home as if they were her own, Blakeley said foster parenting comes with its difficulties, especially at the beginning.

“You have to be open-minded getting into fostering because you’re going to hear and see things you’re not going to like about biological families,” she said. “In the first little while, you’re going to go through some anger issues, you’re going to deal with losses and grief, you’re going to deal with excitement and joy. Your emotions are going to get turned upside down many times over.”

Despite the difficulties, the rewards outweigh the troubles, Blakeley said.

“The feeling of being able to help others is huge. Being able to see children become so resilient from the adversity that they left is huge and knowing that, even if they are only with you for a short time, as much as they’ve embedded something in your heart, you’ve embedded something in theirs.”

Visit www.casbrant.com or call 519-753-8681 for more information about becoming a foster parent.