This has been National Foster Family Week which recognizes the ongoing commitment by families caring for children who need a safe and stable home.
New Brunswick has an ongoing need for foster families and foster care is considered essential which is why the service has continued throughout the pandemic.
Raymond Englehart is president of the New Brunswick Foster Families Association and he and his wife have been foster parents for 29 years.
For those interested in becoming a foster parent, Englehart says you must change your perception and you can’t just do it for the money.
“You have to want to help and you can’t help by criticizing. You’ve got to help with love, nurturing, consistency in the consequences and the rules and regulations.”
Englehart says if you want to try becoming a foster parent or family without making a firm commitment, you can always provide “relief” for a few days or a weekend to an existing foster family.
“You never can tell. It’s been a practice and it was for me. I only did relief at first. I got my feet wet and then I went 100 percent in.”
Englehart says he and his wife always took their foster kids on vacations to see parts of the country such as Ontario and Prince Edward Island.
He adds the couple recently took a two-week vacation without children for the first time in three decades.
If you are interested in fostering, or would like more information, visit the Social Development website, call 1-800-990-0119 or visit the New Brunswick Foster Families Association website.
