"My foster family made me believe that I could achieve"
I’m Kerry, I’m 28 and a new mum and I was placed into foster care when I was 13.
Going into foster care was really scary and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was really nervous and really shy, but looking back now I know that was the best thing for me. If I hadn’t have gone into foster care, my life would be completely different.
My foster carers made me feel really welcome as soon as I walked through the door. They were patient and kind and within a week it started to feel like home. I remember sitting at the dining table and I’d never sat down to eat before with people! It was lovely to talk about our days, and that was so different to what I was used to. I just remember thinking wow, this is what family is.
My foster mum in particular worked on my confidence. When I first moved in with them I was so nervous and so anxious I wouldn’t really leave the house. I was too scared to even post a letter, but my foster mum made me believe that I could achieve. She remembers the shy little girl I was when I first moved in and how, within the space of five years, I was climbing mountains in Ecuador!
I believe if I wasn’t put into foster care I wouldn’t have gone to university and got my degree. I probably wouldn’t own my own home. I think I would have probably been a mum a lot younger. I honestly believe that my life would have been completely different in so many ways.
My foster family was my foster mum and foster dad and they had their own daughter, Grace, who was five years old when I moved in. They also had another boy that was fostered and it really did feel like a family unit. I was with them until I went to university at 18 and I continued to go back to them in the holidays.
Grace was very young when I first moved in but we soon became the best of friends. She loves being auntie to my son: we are sisters and I love her as a sister, we’re very close and still talk every day. We support each other and my foster parents love how much support I give Grace as a big sister.
To me they are still my parents and they are grandparents to my baby boy. They adore him, and they adore me, and they are my family. As a new mum I’ve learnt from my foster family that I want my baby boy to believe in himself, have the values and traditions that my foster parents showed me, and grow up knowing that he can achieve anything he wants.
I think a good foster parent is someone who is patient, kind, caring and truly wants to help a young person achieve their potential.
I’m really grateful my foster parents decided to foster because they changed my life. If you’re considering becoming a foster carer you should do it because of the rewards and the outcomes you see. You get to watch a young person thrive and achieve their full potential. You get to be the person that changes someone’s life.