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Courtesy of the Sparta Expositor
By Renee Bouldin
Staff Writer
renee@spartaexpositor.com
Kenneth and Deborah Friddell are the kind of people most individuals wish they could be.
This couple’s genuine warmth is hard to find in today’s world. Not to sound like a cliché, but the Fridells are like a “breath of fresh air.” The Friddells have spent a large part of their lives dedicated to helping children in need - children who are lost in the system, too old to be adopted, or are considered medically fragile.
November is National Adoption Month, and most people think of expensive adoptions and waiting lists for that special baby, or traveling overseas to adopt and waiting and waiting. The Friddells have spent most of their 26 years of marriage as foster parents.
 Deborah was a special education teacher in the state of Georgia 14 years, and Kenneth is an LPN. After spending the first part of their lives together teaching and caring for the sick, an opportunity arose for them to help a young boy. In 1998, the Friddells became involved with OMNI Visions, Inc. The family underwent what is now called PATH training (Parents As Tender Healers) and were state-certified to care for children in their home.
OMNI Vision Inc. is private foster care focused on children ages 12 and up, provides therapeutic foster care, reunification services, special needs adoptions, and an independent living program. The Friddells began as respite care workers. (They provide relief for foster parents caring for children who are considered medically fragile.) Their involvement with a young boy named Zachery prompted them to become fulltime foster parents, and they began the process of adopting their first son. They had tried for years to have children of their own without success, and Zachery was the first special needs child they fell in love with. Tragically, while in the process of adopting their first son, Zachery passed away.
Today, the Friddells have adopted two children and are in the process of adopting a third. The first child they adopted is Benjamin Randall “Randy” Friddell. Randy is a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Randy was placed in the foster care system after his father was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He is forever confined to his body as a 4- month-old baby. The second child they adopted is Coty Tyler Friddell. Coty is and has Spina Bifida. This is his first year at White County High School.
“He is a big cowboy fan,” said proud father Kenneth. “He loves cowboy hats and country music.”
These children require 24-hour a day care, and the Friddells still accept incoming foster children in need of therapeutic care.
“They will change the whole house around for a child,” said homebound teacher Karen LaFever.
“We change for the needs of the child,” said Deborah. “Adoptive parents are the menders of wounds – not just the physical, but of the heart.”
OMNI Vision employee Angie Goodwin explained anyone can become a foster parent. The family must be approved according to state regulations. And families who wish to adopt these special needs children are able to do so without having to spend any money. The state covers all foster care adoptions.
“My children are my heroes,” said Deborah. “They have been through much more than I know or than they can tell. My life job now is to make sure that the rest of their life is filled to the brim with good memories. Hold them and love them through the good and the bad.”
In 2000, the Friddell’s were voted Foster Parents of the Year for the state of Tennessee. They are dedicated to their children and to the lives of the children who spend a brief time within their loving walls. With support from the community and their church the family will continue to love these children.
For more information about OMNI Vision adoptions and foster care contact the UCSC Regional Office located at 1031 Smithville Hwy, Suite 202, McMinnville, TN 37110, call (931) 507-7775 or visit their website at www.omnivisions.com
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