LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Allen County Children Services celebrated foster families at the first annual Foster Parent Appreciation Banquet since 2019.
Representatives from the City of Lima and the Allen County Commissioner's Office came to recognize the hard work and compassion foster parents put in to care for children, and everyone was treated to a performance by the Heritage Harmonics Show Choir from Heritage Elementary.
There are 30 homes currently licensed in the county to foster children in need of a safe place to live when placement options like relatives aren't available. Besides providing shelter and a support system, foster parents help give kids a sense of normalcy during a hard period of their lives.
"This is a very difficult job, but we want to have foster parents here locally so that kids who are from here can remain here, remain with their services and close to their biological family," explained Shelly Conrad, the program director for Allen County Children Services.
It takes a special kind of person to foster a child, but the most important quality is the desire to help kids.
"Just somebody willing to embrace the chaos and to try to organize your household a little bit, but just somebody willing to love on kids, honestly, and somebody that just wants to open up their home to just get to know other children, and just to help them out any way they can," said Keri Luersman, who is currently fostering three children.
Allen County Children Services will be hosting "Foster the Future: Your Road to Foster Parenting Starts Here," an event for people interested in becoming foster parents, on June 3rd at Our Town Roast from 9 am to noon. To learn more, visit their website.
