Best Friends and Siblings
“I really wish my sister was here.”
When Evan* first entered Kari Callahan’s home, he kept talking about his sister, Emma.*
When Evan first entered our care, he was placed in a separate home from his sister because that was the only space available at the time. Even though they were taken from a dangerous environment and placed in safe homes, it was still difficult for Evan to be apart from Emma.
Evan would sometimes see her during supervised visits with his biological mom. The times Emma couldn’t make it, he would leave very disappointed. When he turned four, Kari threw him a birthday party, but he was upset that Emma wasn’t there. “I kept seeing and hearing things from Evan that affirmed that he really needed to be with her,” Kari shared.
As a single foster parent, Kari and her social worker, Alexis, originally agreed to start her journey caring for one child in her home at a time. “Alexis knows me, as well as the kids in my care,” Kari explained. “Alexis helps me so much. She gets in touch with the right workers and resources . . . She’s also been so helpful in explaining how things work in the foster care system, what is going on, and what the next steps usually are.”
Because she fostered children prior to Evan and felt equipped through the support she received from Alexis throughout her fostering journey, Kari decided to open her home to two children at a time so that Emma and Evan could be together.
Resources like her ABCH social worker, Alexis, equipped Kari with the best care possible for Evan, as well as allow her take even more children into her home so that Evan and Emma could be reunited.
Seeing Evan and Emma playing together reminded Kari of her own childhood with her sister. She was also reminded of how God first planted the seeds of foster care in her heart. Growing up, she saw family friends who opened their home to foster kids. “The scriptures command us to care for the orphans and widows . . . and I was always like I’m going to do that through fostering. It’s something that I always felt a calling from the Lord to do, opening my home that way.”
“Evan is a very emotional kid and wears his heart on his sleeve, and he would talk about Emma all the time,” said Kari. “Now that they’re together, they act like normal brother and sister. Evan’s really happy, and Emma is too, to be with each other.”
Kari has been able to provide many first experiences for Evan and Emma that they will remember forever. “It’s been really fun . . . I’ve gotten to take them to the beach this summer,” said Kari. “My parents have a camper, and we’ll go to the campgrounds in Alabama . . . Evan is obsessed with it. They’re getting to do fun things they probably would never get to do. Just to get to see the joy on their faces is huge.”
What’s even more special for Kari is being able to share with Evan and Emma the eternal hope and healing they can find in Christ. “One thing we do a lot of is scripture memory,” said Kari. “For me, that’s been really cool because whether they’re adopted or go back home, that’s something they can take with them and have forever.”
You can help provide foster kids like Evan and Emma with incredible memories that help heal a lifetime of pain. These memories help change generational trauma into generational healing. Even more so, they’ve getting to encounter the love of Christ every day while in Kari’s care. Learn how you can do that here.
*Names and photos have been changed to protect identities.