As May comes to a close, KVC WV has had such fun honoring our fantastic foster mothers in honor of Mother’s Day and National Foster Care Month.  Each day, we have featured a great foster mother on our Facebook page, but in case you missed it, here is this past week’s recap.

The Raleigh/Wyoming KVC offices would like to recognize April Smith for her dedication to children and families. April has been a resource foster parent with KVC since 2014. She is a caring and compassionate single parent who works full-time as an elementary education teacher. April has adopted one child and is dedicated to meeting the needs of all children – foster, adopted, or children in her class. She is very organized, timely and efficient with paperwork. April has a very good understanding of childhood adversity and trauma which helps extensively with caring for children. Thank you, April, for all you do!

Dianna Drennen and her husband, Eddie, have been resource foster parents since July 2013. They have one daughter and two adult sons. Dianna and her family decided to become involved in foster care to make a difference in the lives of children. They strive to provide children in need with a safe and loving home. Dianna works hard to make the children coming into her home feel like they belong and are wanted. She invests her time and energy into shaping the children’s lives with structure and routine. She teaches them to be polite and use good manners. Dianna gets excited to see the children in her home grow in their maturity both developmentally and educationally. Fostering is not an easy job, but Dianna shows that through love and kindness as well as patience, it can be very fulfilling. She also stays in contact with the children’s school and/or daycare. She ensures the children in her care follow rules and treat others with respect. She ensures they have new clothing, are enrolled in social activities, and attend church regularly for their spirituality.  Dianna is a wonderful mother, and the entire Jackson County KVC staff is proud to call her our own.

Loana and her husband have been resource foster parents since 2014. Loana has four biological children of her own and adopted a girl last year. She and her husband are currently fostering two young boys and are both strong advocates for the needs of children. Loana is caring and kind, and also realizes children need routine and structure. As a school teacher, she has a lot of experience working with children. She loves her family and makes sure they all have what they need. Children in foster care are welcomed into their home as if they are their own. Loana has taken on the task of fostering some kids who are facing difficult challenges. She works with them and doesn’t give up on them! She pays attention to what they need and does her best to make accommodations to meet those needs. She truly wants what is best for them and does what she can to make sure that happens. Loana states that the best part of being a foster parent is being able to see the children’s progress in school and in their behaviors. They make sure to include the children in everything they do and take them on the family vacations. Loana hopes to adopt more children in the future and is committed to being a resource foster parent. She and her husband are valuable assets to the KVC team. Thank you for all that you do!

The Logan KVC office would like to recognize resource foster parent Melba Porter. Melba and her husband, Davy, have been foster parents for approximately 18 years. The family has welcomed a large number of children into their home throughout the years. Melba has always treated every child that enters her home with the utmost kindness and respect. Melba is from quite a large family herself and wants all children to feel welcome and safe in her home.

Melba has a wonderful personality and sense of humor and almost always has a smile on her face. She has always worked well with staff, DHHR personnel, biological families, and any other needed resources to benefit her children. She has earned the respect of area DHHR staff who often request that she be a child’s foster parent. She is also very involved in her church group and youth group activities and is always in attendance at any KVC function. She, along with her sister, Brenda Harper (who is also a KVC parent), assist with any KVC activity in any capacity possible. The Logan office feels very fortunate to have Melba as part of our KVC family.

Sharon Willis and her husband, Bryan, have been KVC resource foster parents since 2015. Sharon’s youngest son also lives in the home and has been a part of the process as well. Together Sharon and Bryan have four adult children. Sharon and her family decided to become a foster family to provide a safe, secure, and loving home. They want to provide a good home to children while they try to safely reunify with their biological parents.

Sharon and Bryan have a large home with extra room and lots of love to give. Since they opened their home, they have taken on some kids that have significant challenges. Through it all, they have worked hard to make certain each child received the care they needed. They have had three of the children they fostered be safely reunited with their biological parents. Sharon is a full-time, stay-at-home mother. She devotes her time to make sure each child has all their medical, emotional, developmental, and educational needs met. She has shown love, kindness, and patience to each child. Sharon Willis is a fantastic foster mother. In the short time she has been a KVC resource foster parent, she has worked well with the KVC Jackson County office staff. She is a truly a blessing to everyone around her.

A big thank you to all of our staff who wrote such kind words about our parents!  Thank you also to our wonderful foster parents whom we were able to honor this month.  Are you willing to open your heart and home to a child?  You can learn more about becoming a foster and or adoptive parent with KVC West Virginia here.