Hernandez family foster care Children's Wisconsin
At Every Turn > Foster Care > Why we foster
Patient Stories Jan 15, 2024

Why we foster

Evangelina and Ricardo Hernandez, Foster Parents Jan 15, 2024 1 minute read

Children's Wisconsin foster care and adoption

Hello, we are the Hernandez family and we have been licensed foster parents for six years. We decided to join this beautiful cause to give a small piece of our love to a child who needs it, and help make the difficult separation from their biological family a little easier. We also did this because we had a desire to become parents, as we don’t have any biological children ourselves. During these six years we have had four children in our care.

The moments that have moved us are when we hear the children’s stories. Sometimes we grow up in a bubble and don’t realize that outside there are children and families who are having a difficult time. But over time and with love, seeing the children begin to trust and feel safe again is priceless.

We encourage anyone who is considering becoming a foster parent not to be afraid. The fear goes away when the child you foster gives you pure and real love. The process doesn’t take very long, and the licensing team is always there to help with answers to your questions.

The biggest and most beautiful lesson we have learned during our time as foster parents is that we might think that we are going to give love to these children, but it is the opposite, the children arrive to your home to give love.

There are so many children who need all of us. We shouldn’t close the doors of our home to them. On the contrary, we need to allow ourselves to be loved, because that is what the children give — love.

At any given time, as many as 7,000 children are in foster care in Wisconsin. As the largest provider of foster care programming in the state, Children’s Wisconsin offers high levels of support to foster and adoptive families.  View more articles from Evangelina and Ricardo Hernandez

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