Doris always wanted to pursue fostering and adoption. In 1994, after marrying her late husband who was deaf, adoption was their first choice before a natural pregnancy. Though Doris and her husband’s mission was to adopt deaf children, there was always the possibility of adopting children with additional needs.
On Memorial Day 2017, Cory, who is on the Autism spectrum, was removed from his parent due to significant instability in the home. With no place to go and a high level of care required, Cory ended up bouncing around from place to place; a social worker’s cubicle, a psychiatric hospital, and then with a foster family for a mere 24 hours before being moved again.
It was a friend who connected Cory with Doris and her family, and Doris graciously opened her home for placement. With two ABA therapists on both sides of Cory, and DCS following behind him, Doris led Cory through the doors of what is now his forever home.
“It was pretty intense,” Doris reflects.
10 days into Cory beginning to settle into their home, Doris learned her husband’s terminal brain cancer was back, heightening the intensity of the new family dynamic. Cory’s ABA therapists helped care for him while Doris prioritized her husband’s hospice care, ensuring he would be able to stay with the family.
“It wasn’t this way six years ago,” Doris says about the growth Cory has made in a stable and loving home. “He used to break car windows; at least six regular windows have been broken. We used to have carpet on the walls to protect the walls.”
Today, incidents like this only happen once or twice a year. He has made mountains of progress and will soon be officially adopted by the family. Doris recognizes the challenges in fostering children with disabilities but finds the reward greater.