Zac once lived at LSI’s Beloit Residential Treatment Center in Ames, waiting for a forever family. In an Iowa farmhouse over a hundred miles away, Ken and Evelyn, veteran foster and adoptive parents, decided they had room in their hearts and home for another child. It turned into a happy ending for both.
Beloit provides 24-7 mental health services for children with severe emotional or behavioral disorders. Many, though not all, have faced trauma from past abuse or neglect. In 2012, 42% of children at Beloit had at least one parent’s parental rights terminated (or were in the process of having parental rights terminated).
“We heard about Zac at Beloit and went to visit a few times, ” said Ken. “He’s a good kid, and he just keeps getting brighter.”
LSI helped Zac prepare to be part of a family, through skill-building, therapy and transition visits. “When I see a kid go into a foster or adoptive home, it’s like a mom watching her child graduate from high school,” said Angie, an LSI caseworker. “They work so hard to accomplish this.”
Being adopted, Zac said, is a “good thing.” It means Zac, who has cerebral palsy and sometimes uses crutches, now simply gets to be a kid. That means fishing on his birthday and even climbing trees with his brothers. “We put a section of ladder up in the pine tree where a flat limb comes out. He manages to get down most times,” said Ken, smiling.
Thank you for helping kids like Zac achieve their potential in loves homes!
