Friends of Children

“If you could pick a word to dip in gold and give to every child in foster care, what would it be?”

“Love.”

Last week, Jenna Weiss-Berman and Yuki Aizawa traveled to Northampton, Massachusetts (Jenna’s hometown!) to record the stories of foster children and adults formerly in foster care through our wonderful partner organization, Friends of Children, a child advocacy and support group.

Our storytellers spoke with wisdom beyond their years of the reality of being taken from their families and shuffled between foster homes that are often abusive themselves. One young storyteller described his fear of living under a stranger’s roof to “driving a car and losing control.” By the end of each day their stories left us angered, saddened, and with overwhelming respect for the children who end up paying for their parents’ mistakes. The human capacity for forgiveness never ceases to amaze — after surviving all, these children and adults were still sweet, smiling, and warm.

Thanks to all our participants, the Weiss-Bermans for hosting us, and Jane Lyons for organizing the Door-to-Door!