St. Josephs told me they could get a call any time of the day saying they need a placement for a child and then have to find a family available. Afterwards, they would submit your info and your home study and you could be matched. I waited, anxiously. One day, I decided to call my case manager and I told her I was considering taking a baby. She told me she would add it to my list. Little did I know that the very next day I would get a phone call! ‘We have a five-day-old that needs a home.’ I thought to myself, ‘How old?!’ She gave me a little background and I just couldn’t say no. I told her yes, yes, yes he can come to my home. On December 8, 2016 Elijah Lee Hill came to my home. My heart just immediately dropped when they brought this tiny little baby into my home. As it turns out, he was my first placement, not to be my last!
The next year on May 10, 2017 I received a call about placements for two sisters and of course I said yes. They said, ‘Okay, we’ll be there later tonight.’ I heard the knock on the door and there stood this beautiful, petite little girl. Her name was Alexis Bowman, but I realized she was alone, even though they said two sisters would be coming. I soon found out her sister Mercedes Bowman had gotten into some trouble and went to a group home. I made sure they kept in touch as much as possible. We visited on weekends when we were free so they could spend time together. Mercedes loved showing her sister off to her friends in the group home.
With Elijah getting older, we had to soon find a bigger place. We searched for a three bedroom and finally found one, not knowing our family would expand even more. Come to find out, Alexis was missing her sister and Mercedes was ready to leave the group home. When I found that out, I immediately talked to the caseworker and talked about Mercedes potentially coming to live with us. The caseworker was all for making that happen.
