For the love of children

My nephew and niece are two amazing children that I brought home after they spent time in foster care. I knew they had a rocky start in life and I knew they would not be given the care they needed, but I had no idea the horrors they had faced until they came to live with me. Both children were locked in a bedroom or a bathroom for most of their days, given nothing more than dry cereal to eat. My tiny nephew learned to drink from the toilet like an animal, he was beaten with a race car track, both children learned to play in in and with their own feces. My niece has puncture wounds in her chest and evidence of a broken nose.

But the trauma became worse for them. They were placed in a foster home after 5 years of the abuse and neglect at home, only to be sexually abused under the care of people who were paid to care properly for them!

Once I brought them home the real battle for them began. PTSD symptoms arose as well as abnormal sexual behaviors among themselves. And then a diagnoses of Autism for both, developmental delays, numerous psychological problems, aggressive behaviors.. The list goes on. My nephew has self harm issues, and he is just 7.

Both children are under weight, even after a year of being in my cate and eating healthy balanced meals. The oldest weighing in at only 38 pounds and soon to be 8 years old. The youngest at 6 going on 7 is only 32 pounds.

I'm a disabled person myself, but I just could not watch my own family go from foster home to foster home with no future in site for these children. It has been a struggle from the start and I wouldn't change anything. They had attached to me, they call me mom and I gladly accept the role. My biggest struggle is the financial set back of having to care for them on my limited resources. Neither parent pays child support due to disabilities. I am in desperate need of things for them, including a vehicle to get them to appointments that they need. This is when I discovered this site and decided that after a year of struggling with this issue I would give this a try.