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Love and patience – that’s the key according to Tammy, a North Carolina foster parent. Tammy and her husband – parents of three grown children and grandparents of one -- have been foster parents for more than 10 years.
Tammy is a hairdresser and her husband drives a dump truck – a great attraction for the boys who have come to live with them over the years. Tammy works a modified schedule and both she and her husband include the children in their work life.
Currently they are foster parents to three teenage boys, one of whom is the reason they became foster parents. While visiting a friend who provides respite care, Tammy “fell in love” with “the cutest little boy.” Three weeks later, she discovered that little boy had no home and she decided to “give it a try.” When she arrived to pick up that little boy and he presented her with a Mother’s Day card, the rest, as they say, is history.
More than 30 children have received the love and guidance of Tammy and her husband in the decade since. Sometimes it has been a rocky road, but Tammy says it is very rewarding when you see the children grow. Almost all of the children they have fostered who are now adults have contacted Tammy to say “thank you.”
All children “are special in their own ways,” says Tammy. But she concedes that foster parenting is “not for everybody. Your heart must be in it. It’s hard – not easy by any means.” She often encourages people who want to adopt to try foster parenting first.
Omni Visions is the only company Tammy and her husband have worked with. Other foster parent organizations have contacted her over the years, but she feels that Omni Visions takes care of her. She is especially complimentary of the relationship with her resource coordinator, who she describes as very personable. With Omni Visions, “I’m not just a number. This is one big family.”
Tammy says that Omni Visions is a “wonderful company to work with.” The many children who have become part of Tammy’s family over the years can surely say she is wonderful, too.
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