Mapanoo Family

For nearly seven years, Joel and I have been foster parents. Fostering was a calling in our lives. It was our way to help children and families in need in our community. To us, foster parents are meant to be safe havens for children and a support for families. We already had three biological children, and because of foster care, we were able to welcome more children into our family. We keep our children connected to their biological families, and after they physically leave our homes, we stay connected to them as their foster family.

It is impossible to list all of the rewarding parts about fostering a child. Seeing our first placements' biological family become self-sufficient and get their girls back, officially adopting our daughter, and even hearing how we've had a lasting impact on our very first foster daughter's achievements are some of our greatest successes as a foster family. All of these milestones really capture how foster care has changed our lives for the better.

Like any journey in life, foster care has its ups and downs, but we have grown in compassion and patience within ourselves as foster parents, as a couple, as a family, and within our community. We now have five wonderful kids: Danielle, a high school senior who is on the nursing career track; Eli, a seventh grader and basketball star; Noah, a fourth grader and avid chef; Addison, a third grader and caretaker of animals; and Adrian, who holds down the fort at home and is the ultimate Hot Wheels collector.

- Chelsea and Joel Mapanoo