peter
“Both myself and my brother lived with my mam who unfortunately was unable to care for us due to her own difficulties. As a result, she made the decision to place us in care in the hope that she would overcome her problems and that we would return to her care. After several unsuccessful attempts, sadly my mam passed away when I was ten. Even though I was very young I remember my mam always telling me to be better than her, to have and do more than she ever could. This has been something internally that has always guided me. When myself and my brother first went into care we were placed in two separate residential care homes. I later moved to my first foster care placement with the fabulous Smith family with whom I am still in contact. From this home, I was then reunited with my brother in our last and final foster care placement that would take care of us until we reached 18 years of age. Their names are Anne and Dave and I would be lost without them. They are now my parents. How they came to foster me is a story in itself. An ad was actually placed in the local newspaper ‘The Northside News’ looking for foster carers to care for these two children that needed a home. I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of this ad years later. But imagine, obtaining these two children from an ad in a paper. My mam and I now joke about which section of the paper I came from. Was I to rent or buy?! Anyway, the lease agreement there is terminated and I am now a life-long squatter!”
– Suzanne is now working with EPIC – Empowering People In Care and they are going to have their ‘National Care Day’ on the 19th February in the Ombudsman for Children’s office. The aim of the day is to create awareness around the positive experiences and achievements of young people in care. –
Find out more on their web page http://www.epiconline.ie