Meant to Shine Foundation

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Promise kids de Vries

In the past 5 years we have taken in 7 children aging 1 month to 15 years for different lengths of time, resulting in many changes for our family. There never were less than 6 children in our home. Dynamic, very busy but a lot of fun.

Right now we have one little boy in addition to our own boys. The brother and sister of this child used to be with us as well, and still visit on a regular basis. We are taking a period of relative quiet after taking in so many children for all these years and because of the coming changes in our Foundation.

De Most children who lived with us, stayed for a long time, with the longest being three years. It is hard to let go after such a long time, but that is out ultimate goal. When a caregiver is ready and able to take care of the children again, they can return home; a process that usually takes a lot of time and energy.

Two boys

The first children we took in were two boys, 1 year old twins. The mother was a teen who was still in school, who was unable to take care of her children. Thy stayed with us for three years. In the meantime, the mother was able to finish her schooling, and the children have returned to her. Because the children stayed with us, the mother was not only able to finish her schooling, but was also able to get ready to be a mother for her children and prepare for the transition.

Temporary care

At times temporary can be a lot longer than you think.....
Once we received a request to take in a 9 year old boy (who later turned out to be 11) for a couple of weeks. It ended up being a year! This boy's mother was unable to take care of him and the boy ended up staying with family members most of his life. Due to sickness he could no longer stay, which resulted in a placement with us. After a year he was able to return to family.

And sometimes temporary really means temporary. We once took care of a 2,5 year old girl from a crisis situation. She stayed with us for 6 weeks before going to another, more permanent placement. She came by a few months later, and she is doing very well.

Big boy

The oldest boy we have taken in so far was 14 years old. He was the oldest in a family of which 4 children were coming to Embrace. Following a crisis, the police decided to take the 4 youngest children out of the home and place the oldest with us.

He had a severe trauma and after a few months it became apparent that with his problems he was unable to stay with us for very long. After a year he returned to his stepfather at the end of 2008, waiting for placement elsewhere.

three-in-one

In February 2006 we took in three children from a drug addicted mother; a month-old baby, a 1 year-old girl and a 4 year-old boy. We found out after a week that the baby was addicted too. After staying in the hospital for a week, he came home and detoxed for about 8 months. The mother stayed in rehab for a year. Fast-forward to the present: she is clean, has her own home, a good job, and, after almost three years, is taking care of her two oldest children. We still see the children every week and a friendship has developed with the mother. Where needed we assist the mother in the care of her children. The youngest is now three years old and will be staying with us.