5 minute read
Right Where She Belongs: How Kari Poage Found Her Daughter in a Child Who Needed a Chance
When Kari Poage first opened her home to foster care, she couldn’t have predicted the winding, emotional road ahead. She never imagined it would one day lead to her becoming a mother to a little girl named Aurora.
A special education teacher by profession, Kari had always had a heart for children with unique challenges. With her biological children growing up, she felt a stirring in her mid-thirties to explore fostering. “I started looking into adoption options, and that’s when I first learned more about fostering to adopt,” Kari recalls. Information sessions, including one with HopeTree, sparked something in her, and she soon found herself enrolled in foster parent training classes. She was certified by December 2021.
Her first placement was short-term respite care for an 11-year-old girl who was used to the chaos of a large foster family. The transition to Kari’s quiet home may have been jarring, but it became a treasured memory for both. The same girl would return to Kari later for a longer placement, a comforting sign that the connection they formed was meaningful.
But Kari's first full-time placement, a 10-year-old boy, brought unexpected challenges. "He ran away on the second night,” she remembers. “It was tough. I felt like I had failed.” The moment was pivotal, not because she turned away, but because she didn’t give up. HopeTree staff offered support, reassurance, and compassion. “They reminded me that you never know everything going into a placement. That it was okay to recognize your limitations.”
Then came Aurora. She was almost three years old when she arrived at Kari’s door in July 2022. Quiet, developmentally delayed, and suspected of having autism, Aurora had already cycled through another foster home that wasn’t equipped to meet her needs. Kari, with her special education background, felt ready to try.
“We started planning a birthday party right away,” Kari says with a smile. “She couldn’t talk, wanted to be held all the time, and drank from a cup like it was a bottle. She felt more like a baby than a toddler.” But slowly, day by day, Aurora began to blossom.
With therapy, early education services, and above all, love and consistency, Aurora’s world opened up. She started using sounds to get attention. “Pfff!” became her go-to noise in the car. Gradually, she built up the ability to express herself. Her first words were her favorite songs. Wheels on the Bus came out as “beeboh-buh,” and she couldn’t get enough of “Shoo Fly Don’t Bother Me.” Music was the bridge to language, and Kari was there for every note.
“I think I fell in love with her within the first week,” Kari admits. But loving a child in foster care doesn’t guarantee a forever home. For months, Aurora’s future hung in the balance. Would she return to her biological parents? Or would an out-of-state aunt gain custody?
“I prayed a lot,” she says. “I just kept asking that God’s will be done, wherever Aurora was meant to be.” In May 2023, a judge decided Aurora would stay right where she was, with Kari. It would take another year and two rounds of appeals for that decision to become official.
On June 11, 2025, Kari got the call while she was at work. “It was like a huge weight lifted. Finally, everything was in place.”
They celebrated at Aurora’s favorite place, a splash pad in Christiansburg, joined by family and HopeTree staff who had walked beside them throughout the journey.
Aurora, now six, has grown into a joyful, silly, affectionate child who adores Peppa Pig, trampolines, and water play. She talks in full sentences, gives hugs freely, and makes up funny voices just to make her mom laugh. “She’s full of personality,” Kari says. “I can’t imagine my life without her.”
Their journey together has not been easy. Aurora entered care due to neglect and exposure to severe domestic violence. Kari has agreed to keep in touch with Aurora’s biological parents, who now reside out of state, and has been in email contact with Aurora’s birth mother. “If Aurora ever wants to know more, I’ll support her,” Kari says. “But right now, we’re just focusing on growing together.”
For Kari, fostering was more than a calling. It was a lesson in faith, resilience, and love. “It’s made me more aware of how trauma affects children and adults,” she says. “Even if fostering isn’t for everyone, there are so many ways people can support these kids. They can help through respite care, babysitting, making a meal, or just being there for a foster family.”
Her advice to those unsure about fostering? “Start with a conversation. Just learn more. Even if you only help one child for a short time, it matters.”
For now, Kari is focused on helping Aurora heal and grow, one day at a time. Their story is a reminder that the heart of foster care is about showing up, offering love, and changing lives.
