Abby and Bradley knew that fostering to adopt would be an enormous undertaking and that they couldn’t do it alone. When they were ready to foster, they both sought out support groups, and when they received their first placement two years ago, they were connected with a care community from a local church. But knowing that you need help doesn’t make it easy to ask for it. “It’s really hard for me,” Abby says. “I think that’s the case for lots of foster parents.” If someone offers, they are eager to accept, but they hate to be a burden and ask. That’s one of the ways their care community has been so special. For a long time now, their care community has gone the extra mile in taking care of needs without ever having to be asked.
From the beginning, Abby and Bradley’s care community has been incredibly faithful. They began delivering dinner on Monday nights, and one couple came to babysit once a month so they could get out for a night together. The kids soon came to adore the couple.
Beyond their initial commitments, as the members of the community got to know the family better, they saw needs and started to fill them unasked. They gave money for groceries, gift cards for gas, and birthday presents for the children. In the fall of 2022, they provided a fence for the family’s yard, and when they realized there was no one to install it, the men of the care community came one Saturday and did it themselves. “None of them had ever done it before,” Abby says. “They had to look everything up and learn how to do it. They had to rent machinery. But they did it, and it’s phenomenal.”
Their support was more than just physical and financial. Abby and Bradley had been fostering two children, siblings, with the expectation of adoption, but last spring, they were suddenly told that the children would be reunified with their biological mother instead. The day the children left their home, Abby and Bradley called a couple from their care community, who came over and cried with them and prayed over them. “They love those kids, too,” says Abby. “They said, ‘We’re with you. We don’t want to let you go. We’ll be on pause until you get a new placement. We don’t want another family. We’ll wait for you.’”
They didn’t have to wait for long. Two weeks later, through a connection at the school where Abby works, they met and agreed to foster an 11-year-old girl in need of a home. The care community came through again, fitting out a room for an older child and renewing their commitment to support the family for another year. In August, they also brought home a newborn who had spent her first weeks in the NICU. Now with four children again and both working full time, Abby and Bradley continue to be amazed at how their care community steps up.
One Sunday this fall, the family was going to the Colts game. Their daughter was involved in the half-time show, which meant they would be downtown all day. Two women from the care community agreed to come and watch the other children, even though it would be a twelve-hour day. When they came home that night, there were more people than they had expected. The women had noticed that part of the family’s roof was damaged from a recent storm, and they had called their husbands and a few other members of the care community who fixed it that day. They had also done the laundry and cleaned the entire house.
Far beyond any expectation, this care community excels at noticing needs and meeting them without having to be asked. It’s a beautiful picture of what can happen when God’s people come together and love each other as family. “Seek out community,” Abby advises families thinking of fostering. “Your life can be so blessed if you let people help you.”
If you’re interested in learning more about having a Care Community reach out to info@handsofhopein.org.