I remember that day vividly when I decided that I wanted to make a difference in the world. At the time I was a junior in high school and I was volunteering at the Phoenix inner city YMCA on Wednesdays after school. There was a small group of us and we spent a couple of hours just hanging out and playing with the kids in the after-school program. In the grand scheme I know that it wasn’t much, but as a high school student, it’s what I could do.

As I grew, my vision of making a difference changed. I thought about going into ministry, working with inner city youth, working with the homeless…I had so many ideas in my mind, but my actions didn’t match those. It wasn’t until I met my wife that I truly considered fostering and/or adopting. As we grew our family with birth children our desire to adopt grew as well. It didn’t seem like much at the time, but it was what we could do to make a difference.

I think that is human nature. Most of us desire to truly make a difference and even change the world. There are so many kids in need of loving and safe homes. I know that it took my wife and I years to finally say yes to foster and adoption. Maybe you’re not ready for that, and that’s alright. You don’t need to have a child in your home to make a difference, so what can you do?

Why not give? You can give time by mentoring, advocating, or becoming a court appointed special advocate. You can give financially and help our efforts to get kids connected to the communities around them or to other foster organizations. You can give of your influence through sharing stories of kids in care and those fighting to make a difference in their lives. All of us have something worth bringing to the table. All of us can bring hope through what we choose to give. Together we can all make a difference and help Arizona’s kids who need it most.

Find out more here:

https://fosterarizona.org/participate/

Brian Vehon

Foster/Adoptive Dad