¿Do you want to know how a Solidary Family feels?

Meet this family who chose to enter the Foster Care Families program and its experience.

I was wondering; how many opportunities do we get in life?

We maybe encounter more than what we are capable of seeing or taking. But it seems that when the opportunity races at the pace of need, it is easier to be taken. As long as we are conscious of need, our possibility and our capacity. There are imperfect and perfect things to the naked eye, but there’s always more… it’s just a matter of exploring the opportunity, with our little toolbox.

Almost two years ago I received a WhatsApp message from a recently added phone number, asking if I could take a call, that it was urgent. We had met little more than 10 days ago, to catch up with my family’s current situation and our projects for this year. In that meeting, I told them about projects in professional matters and couple matters, about the growth of my daughters and about the difficulty to continue with the intention of becoming a Foster Care Family as it had been presented last year… Having been approved as Foster Care Family and having taken on the corresponding training. In that same meeting we decided to make a fresh start, to participate in the institution but from another perspective; in other projects as active referents of children maybe closer to their emancipation from the institution, or helping other Foster Care Families. We left the meeting waiting for an e-mail on any of these different options, yet what we received is this previously mentioned WhatsApp message. Between my consulting room job and other occupations I couldn’t answer, then a second message with the same request came.

That way, in two days, we prepared the house for the big journey, which began on a Friday morning. There, in the Ieladeinu’s Headquarters we met for the first time. She, very little and incipient, and I, to begin this story… An opportunity. Us 4 opened our house, our day-to-day life, our jokes, our shabbatot… and she with her sweetness is making herself a spot. We all took this opportunity.

Maybe from the outside it can be seen as something “weird”, as a big mitzvah, curious, with some doubts… From the outside people could judge her, people could judge us. Still, we decided to take it with humor, as many other things, because we believe that it is through laughter that difficulties are overcome.

We have taken seriously the encounter, reflexively. We have taken seriously the opportunity to learn, us from her, and her from us; the dreams, the projects; the hugs, the accompaniment and the love that step by step is built.

We learn to live in an open house. We learn that nourishing another person’s heart is nourishing our life, which does not have a unique story or perspective. Today the word Home has been redefined for everyone. And in the same way, the words Family, Brother have been redefined too.

Today, this little warrior is taking all the opportunities, without being forced as in previous situations. She’s just finished secondary school. She’s seeking for new opportunities, in terms of job and study. Soon we’ll go after the driving license… And at the request of her boyfriend, Sephardi cooking classes, which is the least developed step yet.

There were other different opportunities in her tumultuous 19 years, some better than others. But clearly, this one is different for everybody.

Your family can also live this experience.

We are looking for Solidary Families.