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11/24/2009 A place at the table By Reggie Bicha The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. This week, families across Wisconsin will celebrate Thanksgiving. Like most Wisconsin families, this celebration in my home includes watching the parade with my three children and catching some of the football game with my Dad. Then we all sit down for our Thanksgiving meal, which usually involves most of us eating more turkey and stuffing than we should. Before our meal begins we take time to talk about what we are most thankful for during the past year. At the top of nearly everyone’s list, including mine, is our family. During the holiday season, most of us focus on family, and we recognize how much we need and depend on the love of our parents, spouses, children, and other relatives. November is National Adoption Month, and I believe it is fitting that in the month where we are especially thankful for family we also celebrate families who have found the gift of each other. Adoptive families provide support, love, and stability for children who need safe, caring, and nurturing homes. I am thankful that adoptive families throughout the state have selflessly opened their lives and homes. This year in Wisconsin there will be nearly 700 more children sitting down for dinner with a family of their own, who only last year were waiting to be adopted from foster care. Through adoption they have found a caring home and are celebrating their first Thanksgiving together with their new family. Their dream came true this year, and you can imagine that they are more thankful this year than last. I know that their new adoptive parents have more to be thankful for as well. They have the immeasurable joy of raising these children. For those that have opened their hearts to children in need of a home, they will tell you that it is the most wonderful thing they have ever done. During November, Governor Doyle and First Lady Jessica Doyle with the Department of Children and Families honored several adoptive families from all over the State with the 2009 Governor’s Outstanding Adoptive Parents Awards. The adoptive parents we honored are regular people with big hearts that want to be parents to children who need them. I am honored to have met these outstanding parents and the amazing children they are raising. The Governor’s Outstanding Adoptive Parent Award recognizes and thanks adoptive parents for opening their hearts and homes to children. We honored parents like Cindy and Matt Wilcox from Monroe who not only adopted four sisters, but are also foster parents and have become a great resource for new foster parents in their area. We also honored Beverly Broaden-Ferrin of Milwaukee who is a single mom to three adoptive children who also finds time to assist with foster parent training on top of working a 40 hour week. The incredible stories of the six families recognized provide just a glimpse of the adoption picture across the state, and these families will attest that it hasn’t always been easy. But the rewards outweigh the challenges, and it is one of the best decisions they have ever made. All children deserve a loving and nurturing “forever” home. Adoption is a great way to share something that offers tremendous rewards for both the child and the adoptive parents. Children who are adopted have a sense of belonging and feel more secure which improves their self-esteem. Having a stable home also leads to better grades in school and better paying jobs in the future. Adoption provides a child with the greatest gift – the gift of family. At the Department of Children and Families, we are working hard with our partner agencies to find homes for the foster children of Wisconsin so they can have the futures they deserve. We are looking for diverse and nurturing families who feel a tug at their hearts to provide homes for children. Often when people think of adoption, they envision infants being welcomed into a family. But adoption involves children and youth of all ages. Adoption provides a new beginning and keeps brothers and sisters together. Children waiting to be adopted are from different backgrounds, cultures, and have different needs, but like every child, they have the capacity to love unconditionally as well as bring joy and energy into a family. I want to encourage others to follow the example of all of the adoptive parents in the state: to open their arms and their hearts to children who need them very much; to give them the futures they deserve; and to fill Thanksgivings to come with love and family. As you sit down at your Thanksgiving table, I ask you to look to see if there is an open chair at your table for a child or children who would be thankful for you. -- Bicha is secretary of the state Department of Children and Families. |
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