This is a story of a foster child choosing to have a different kind of life than foster care. It is a very uplifting story of hope for other foster children but it does not have a happy ending, so have some tissues ready. I wanted to share this story since we always seem to hear all the failures of the foster children. It gives us hope as foster parents that we can make a lasting difference in a child’s life and they do have a chance at a life.

A young lady named Veronica Smith lived through foster care and made a life for herself and her children. This is no easy task for anyone who has more-or-less been raised in the foster care system.

Drug addict parents abandoned her and her siblings to the foster care system. After five weeks in foster care, she learned that her mother had been murdered.

She went on to have three children to care for. She got involved with the YMCA job placement program, where she got a job as a secretary. She learned and struggled to provide a home, furnishings, and clothing for her children, which she did herself.

Sadly she was killed in a car accident this month, leaving behind her three children just as her mother was taken from her.

Her sister is trying to keep her children together and provide a home for them. As she knows the trauma of losing a mother at such a young age, hopefully she will be able to continue with her sister’s spirit of hope of the future.

Want to help?
Donations can be made to:
• The YWCA, 421 E. Jackson St., Springfield, IL 62703; phone 522-8828.
• Veronica Smith Fund, c/o Illinois National Bank, 322 E. Capitol Ave., Springfield, IL 62701.