Blog
Being a Kinship Caregiver – Informally…and Formally
When I logged into the Zoom meeting on October 27, 2021, to complete my training for Kinship Foster care, I had so many questions about the experiences I was having and seemingly no one to ask at the time. Not 10 minutes into the class Laurie Tapozada gave her short...
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Kinship Care
Mary’s* journey navigating “the system” started years ago. She had left her son in the care of a babysitter and after a few months, noticed a change in her son's behavior. It's a feeling every parent dreads -...
An Open Letter to Kinship Families
You turned your life inside out and upside down. You ignored the voice in your head that was shouting, “I can’t do this! I am too old for this! I don’t want to do this!” You didn’t have enough room, but you made room. You didn’t have enough money, but you stretched...
Tears In The Morning
For the first eight months of his life, my grandson spent 24 hours per day, seven days a week with his mother. Together constantly, he bonded deeply with her. Unfortunately, I don’t think the reverse was true. At two months of age, she wanted to leave him with me and...
“Like many other kinship caregivers, I did not anticipate being in this situation at my age. My husband and I had children who were older, self-sufficent and almost at the age of independence. I did not know what I was feeling – angry, bitter, resentful – was natural, until I met other people who were in the same situation, felt the same way and were willing to share there story. That alone, made a huge difference and changed my perspective.”