'I Got Dealt Some Pretty Bad Cards': Former Foster Youth Finds Comfort With New Family
LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) – Raise the Future can't do the work they do so well without money. A Day For Wednesday's Child is not successful without sponsors. American Furniture Warehouse is one of those sponsors, and a proud supporter of the mission of Raise the Future.
Recently, Jake Jabs, President and CEO of American Furniture Warehouse, gifted a piece of furniture to a Raise the Future family.
Katie, her two moms, and her brother were on a mission, and CBS4's Britt Moreno was along for the ride. They were picking out a piece of furniture at American Furniture Warehouse.
"Jake, how important is adoption for kids in foster care?" Moreno asked.
"It's a wonderful thing to find a family and have a home, and get an education, and be able to live a normal life," Jabs replied.
Katie, Jake and Britt were no strangers. We'd first met in 2019, when Katie was a Wednesday's Child, and Jake gave her a behind-the-scenes tour of the store.
"Got to catch up and that was really fun," Katie said.
Now with her family, Katie picked out a combo TV stand/electric fireplace.
"I told my moms if it's not warm, I don't want it," Katie said with a smile.
The kind of warmth that feels like having a stable, loving family.
"She was just meant to be with us," said Kari, one of Katie's moms.
Kari and Amber became foster parents so that their son could have siblings. It was a bid decision for their family, but in the end helping the children that needed it the most won out.
"My, and our goal, was to, while they're with us to give them something that they can hold on to and make memories out of, and to be able to help them enjoy their childhood, because kids in foster care sometimes get robbed of that," Kari explained.
When the fireplace/TV stand was delivered to the family's home, Katie could not be more excited. She was excited to have a new piece of furniture that the whole family could enjoy.
"I don't have that weight on my shoulders anymore, of like which house and I going to next. Where am I going to find my next meal? What is going to come my way?" she told CBS4.
Katie spent 4-years in foster care.
"It wasn't the life that I wanted. I got dealt some pretty bad cards," she said.
She said that she kept hope, and now she has some new cards to play. She'll start high school in the fall. She wants to play softball, and maybe coach someday.
"I do want to do foster care when I'm older to bring all the kids in that need help," she said.
And now she'll have the fireplace to warm them by.
Every year, CBS4 hosts A Day 4 Wednesday's Child to raise money and awareness of the good work being done by Raise the Future. Tune in to CBS4 on Wednesday, April 14th for Day 4 Wednesday's Child. You can make a donation at www.raisefuture.org, text FUTURE to 41444, or call (303) 755-4756.
