FOUNDATIONS Graduation Issue | Summer 2015
From a Bair Scholarship Recipient “Treatment foster care has affected me in so many different ways and given me opportunity to grow as a person.”
I didn’t have a family before foster care. Now I have people in my life who care about me. Most of my life I bounced around and I was never given the opportunity to develop a relationship. Even though I am no longer in the care of the Bair Foundation, I am still in contact with my former foster parents Bill & Maria, whom I joined for the holidays. I am very grateful for them. They have showed and taught me so many different things in life. One thing that they helped me with is finding what was important to me, education, life skills, support, and what it means to be part of a family. I once thought that I was never going to have the opportunity to experience what a family felt like. I am currently enrolled in Central New Mexico Community College majoring in Psychology. I have been attending for three semesters and I hope to graduate in May of 2016 with my Associates Degree. I finished my first year with a 3.9 GPA, an accomplishment I’m proud I achieved.
- Jesus Schink, Bair Alumni
Thank You for Fostering Teens! “Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise.” - Andy Stanley Life in general for a teenager can be challenging; the highs and lows, the physical changes, the mood swings, the peer pressure, the temptations and the added responsibilities. For a teen in foster care, who has experienced abuse and neglect, multiple placements, lack of direction or encouragement and a disrupted academic path, navigating the teen years can be a nightmare without a committed adult they can depend on. When our families invite foster teens into their homes, they are given an incredible opportunity to not only share the love of Jesus, but to rebuild young lives through a meaningful relationship. By opening up their home to an older child, they help a teen grow physically, socially and spiritually. The time spent in their home can be the absolute turning point for a teenager who will soon age out of the foster care system.
Because of Committed Foster Families:
of Bair seniors have been accepted to higher education or enlisted in the armed forces.
A special thank you to all of our foster parents who care for teens: You make our teens feel wanted, safe, valued, and understood as you look past the behaviors and focus on the fact that our youth have been traumatized and all teens (in or out of foster care) can be challenging. You realize that teens are adults-in-training who are looking for a positive role model, life coach and the opportunity to develop into the person God has called them to be. You understand the importance of positive attention, listening, and just being there for our teens. You are fully aware that teens might act tough, but that secretly these kids want and need you. To ALL our foster parents who are making a difference, I want to say thank you. Thank you for loving our kids unconditionally. Thank you for putting your heart and soul into this ministry. Thank you for doing one of the most important jobs there is; passionately caring for hurting children & teens in the name of Christ.
Dr. Susan J. Miklos, LSW Executive Director