Alisha Is Hoping to Adopt!

Alisha

Dear Mama, Hi! My name is Alisha and I have a son Julian who I am adopting through foster care. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read my profile and for considering me as a prospective parent for your child. I understand the magnitude of this decision and the sacrifice you are making to give your child a better life. I try to put myself in your position and think what would I be looking for in a parent for my child. I’d want someone who is loving and nurturing and able to provide a stable loving home for my child. My promise to you is to provide your child with a loving stable home and give your child a better life.

I started fostering three years ago but the goal of foster care is reunification.

One of the kids that came into my home was not able to be reunified and now I am preparing to adopt him. As his adoption is being finalized, I am ready to close that chapter of being a foster parent and would love to expand my family through adoption. I enjoy being a mom and love my son more than words can describe. I would love nothing more than to add another child to my family through adoption.

About me!

Hi! My name is Alisha. I am a mom to a two year old Julian who I am adopting through foster care. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a mom, so I got licensed to be a foster parent because I knew I wanted to help kids. I danced from the time I was three years old until I graduated high school and when I was 15 I started teaching the little ballerinas that were just starting. I fell in love with the littles and knew from that experience I wanted to help kids in some way when I was older and had my own home. After my first placement in foster care I knew I wanted to start my own family. I got the call for Julian when he was three days old and I picked him up from the hospital and he’s been with me ever since. In August the Judge changed the goal from reunification to adoption. It may seem like a lot to be a single mom to two kids, but I have a lot of experience with having two kids in my home at the same time and have a lot of support from my family.

I have been a foster parent for the past three years and have fostered several children. It’s what I enjoy doing once my work day is over. I work from home full time which gives me a lot of flexibility. And when work is done, my time is fully devoted to Julian. I enrolled him in swimming when he was about six months old and we continue to go to lessons weekly. It is a fun experience, and it allows him to learn important lessons on being safe in the water. As he gets older I am excited to see what activities will be of interest to him and I will happily support them.

Aside from fostering, I enjoy dogs. I have five of them! It isn’t as crazy as it sounds though. They all get along and are all crate trained and they all do well with kids. Julian has been crawling over all of them since he was able to crawl and now he gives them hugs and kisses. I also think the dogs are good for the kids in providing a built in best friend.

I enjoy running. I have ran in a few marathons when I was in college and shortly after. I still run just not as much as I used to while I was training. It is my way of decompressing and staying healthy. I also enjoy spending time with my family. My sister lives close and visits every Saturday and Sunday. She enjoys playing with Julian and spending time here. My mom lives about an hour and a half away and comes over about once a month or when I need someone to watch Julian. Julian is the only child in my family and my family is loving watching him grow.

What my Mom says about me, I am so proud of the woman Alisha has grown into. She is caring, kind, and has always made the children that have come through her home her top priority.

She is very independent and has accomplished so much from getting her doctorate in pharmacy to buying her own house to now adopting Julian. He is such an amazing kid and she has done such an amazing job raising him. I’m so proud of her and can’t wait for her to add another child to her family.

What my sister says about me, I have watched Alisha be a parent to several children throughout the past three years. Julian has been with her the longest and she loves him and he loves her so much. They are inseparable. Alisha dedicates all of her time outside of work to Julian and always keeps him busy with age appropriate activities. She has helped numerous children in foster care by providing a loving stable home and taking the time to address all of their needs while also connecting with them and truly loving them as if they were her own. She is quick to think of solutions as there are always things that come up in foster care. She has always done what is in the best interest of the children that have been in her home. She is patient with the kids and always positive with them. She is a very hands on parent and is always down on the floor playing with the kids and encouraging them learn and grow.

My Family My family consists of my mom who lives about an hour and a half away from me and my sister who lives about twenty minutes from me. My mom visits us about once a month or we go home to visit her and take advantage of the pool to swim. We celebrate all of the Christian holidays here at my house. Since Julian became a part of my family, our tradition is now for my mom and my sister to spend the night at my house before Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas so everyone can wake up and celebrate the entire day together. We cook the traditional holiday meals starting in the morning and get to enjoy the entire day together with good food and lots of family time.

My family is my biggest support system and Julian loves spending time with his Grammy and his Aunt. Every weekend he is always looking for Auntie Ney to visit and he gets so excited if I tell him Grammy is coming over for the day. I send pictures to them every morning before Julian goes to school and then send them pictures of him in the evening of all the activities that he does. We are very close and they love all of the children that have come to live at my home in foster care. Julian is the only child in the family and my family love to spoil him.

Leisure The majority of my time is spent with my family. My sister lives in a different area of Pittsburgh and is only twenty minutes away. She comes over to spend time with us every Saturday and Sunday. In the summer we enjoy spending time on the deck in the pool and enjoying the sunshine. And when it isn’t so hot outside we go for walks in the neighborhood.

We also enjoy watching football on Sunday’s and sometimes we even go to the Pitt football games. We enjoy taking Julian to different activities in the city like the zoo!

My way of decompressing from the day is going for a run. I ran a few marathons when I was in college but now I run to stay healthy. It is my form of self-care. I also enjoy walking my dogs. I live on a dead end road making it the perfect place for walks.

I also enjoy traveling. While I was in college, I traveled to Africa as a study abroad program and visited several countries there. I also did a tour of Germany and Switzerland. I have also traveled to different cities in the US. I enjoy going to the beach and have spent many summer days in Miami and San Diego.

Work I work full time. I have a doctorate degree in pharmacy. I worked as a pharmacist for several years but have transitioned over to leadership roles within the past five years. I currently work as a manager on the technology team at CVS Specialty. I get to design and implement enhancements for the operating system that the company uses. I work from home which is very important to me. My job allows me a lot of flexibility with my work hours. It is also very helpful if Julian is sick. Being a pharmacist has allowed me to help so many people and I enjoy being able to mentor other pharmacists in my leadership positions.

Our house I live in a single family home in a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. I am about twenty minutes away from the city and it is a quick easy drive making it a perfect location. It is a ranch home with three bedrooms and two full baths and a half bath. I have a large living room with a section of it dedicated to a play zone. There is a finished basement with another playroom too. There is a sliding door in my living room that leads to a large deck where I have a little pool as well as a sandbox. I have over an acre of land that I recently had cleared and leveled and seeded with grass for a fun play area. This Christmas I will be adding a swing set to the back yard.

I live on a dead end road that is quiet and with minimal traffic. There are lots of young children on my road that are always out walking and biking. I live in a diverse neighborhood with the schools less than a mile away. There are numerous parks in the area for all ages too.

Pets I have five dogs! It sounds like a lot, but they are all crate trained and all of them do well with kids from newborns to 17 years old. My dogs are an integral part of my family. I have two Labradors, Gracie and Penelope. Then I rescued two little chihuahua mixes that are brothers that I didn’t want to get separated, Iggy and Arlo. And the final addition was a German Shepherd, Teddy.

They all do very well with Julian. He crawls all over them and gives them hugs and kisses daily.

My son I have been a foster parent for three years. I am at the final step and waiting for an adoption date for my two year old, Julian. I got the call to be his foster mom when he was just three days old. I picked him up from the hospital and he has been with me ever since and this will soon be his forever home. I have fostered several other children over the three years but he is the only one that has not been reunified. I do not have any biological children. I always talk to him about his birth mom and feel it is important for him to always understand his birth story. He is a very active and curious two year old. I encourage him to explore and learn from experiences.

I would always talk to him if a new child was being placed in my home. Even if he couldn’t fully understand yet, I always wanted to include him in the process. The same is true about adoption. I talk to him about becoming a big brother and expanding our family. At one point I did foster a nine month old baby while he was 14 months old. He was the best big brother and would give hugs and always checked on the baby. He adjusts very well when new kids would come into our home. As I am closing that chapter of foster care and looking to adopt, I know he will adjust well and provide lots of love to his new sibling.

Thank you for looking at our profile. If you would like to know more about us, please contact Everlasting Adoptions 630-364-8361. Thanks!