May 27, 2021 – Our overall mission here at Sierra Nevada Connections is to match each foster child with their forever family. Our staff works tirelessly to ensure our foster children and foster youth are being placed with the right foster family who can assist them as they maneuver through this tough system. There is nothing more special than seeing a child matched with the perfect family, and in Isabella’s case, it could not have been more true! Isabella entered our Foster Care and Adoption program back in March of 2019 at the age of six. She was a nervous, hesitant little girl who had already been in the foster care system for a few years and had experienced various kinds of trauma.
Our experienced team of Foster Care Social Workers reached out to the Monroe family, knowing that this may be a potential match. The Monroe family was new to the foster parent/foster care world and was nervous about their first-ever placement. Nate and Jane, the Monroe parents, were both called to fostering since before they were married. When they entered our office doors, they expressed how they had felt called to foster and adopt for years now, and they just simply couldn’t ignore it any longer. Foster parent mother Jane stated, “We felt we could make a difference in a kid’s life. “We knew if we didn’t do it now, we never would, and we would regret it.”
When Isabella first joined the Monroe family, both Isabella and the foster family experienced a serious learning curve. Isabella entered the home as a six-year-old who acted much older than her age, which created various behavioral problems. While Jane and Nate received a multitude of support from SNC when it came to working with Isabella, they also expressed they found great solace in talking to other foster parents. Meeting Isabella’s needs was the most important task at hand, and through SNC resources, other foster parents, and individual research, the family quickly bonded. As the family began to get into their own groove, the nervousness and hesitancy from both Isabella and the Monroe’s slowly dissipated, and love soon began to grow. After an incident occurred where the family was not allowed to bring Isabella on a family vacation, they knew their family was no longer complete without her. On February 14, 2020, the Monroe family booked a private room at their favorite restaurant and asked Isabella if she wanted to officially join their family, and she accepted! The family could not have been more overjoyed to know Isabella wanted to join their family just as much as they wanted her to. The Monroe family officially welcomed Isabella into their family on December 28, 2020.
Our SNC team could not have been happier to see Isabella and the Monroe family become a forever match. Briana, Isabella’s primary SNC Social Worker, shared this special quote when discussing working with Isabella and the Monroe’s, “We made a wish and you came true” – Winnie The Pooh. Briana expressed how she had seen this family grow into something that truly seemed like a wish come true. Isabella, in addition to our SNC staff, had Ana, her CPS Social Worker as another great resource of support. When asked about working with the Monroe’s and Isabella, Ana stated,
“The ongoing work with the family has been a joy. The family has put in so much work to be able to compromise with each other. They have been very protective of the child and also were able to set appropriate rules with her to help the child learn what healthy boundaries are. The family was very good at communication, open to feedback, and very self-sufficient with making sure needs were being met. We could not have asked for a better support system for both this foster youth and the foster family!”
While the foster care process can be both difficult and painful, it can also be the most rewarding thing you will ever do. Jane and Nate wanted to add this final quote,
“Our Isabella’s dreams big and lives life with full color and energy. Like all young children, she can be a challenge, but she has magnified our family’s heart and we wouldn’t want it any other way. While you may go into this adventure thinking you are helping a child, you may find that the child enriches your life as well”.
*All names have been altered for confidentiality