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PatchWork
by Joyce Whitis |
Foster's Home for Children
He was 17, a handsome young man, with high school diploma in hand. After these years, spent in a comfortable home, the old wounds from an abusive father had mostly healed and there came a morning when the wish to try living once more with his family was strong. His sister, more damaged than he, had been placed in another facility for more extensive therapy and likely would never be able to go back, but at 17, he thought he could handle it.
A few weeks later, in the dead of night the roar of a single shotgun blast splintered the darkness. As the young man stood over the ruined body that was his father and stared as the white sheets turned red, he mumbled to himself, "I wish I'd never come back."
"I begged that young man to stay with us a little longer," Gene Boone, director of Foster's Home said. "He and his sister came from a very bad situation. The father was an alcoholic and was very abusive to the children and their mother. We wanted him to stay here so we could continue to council and guide him toward a successful life. He was so sure that everything would be all right this time. Now he is in Huntsville! That thought comes to bother me often."
Sherwood Foster, oilman and rancher, and his wife, Myrtie, founders of the expansive Foster's Home on North Graham Street, moved their residence from the Odessa area when the grass gave out. They looked around for another location, liked this area and made the decision to move to Erath County. They bought 17 sections around Chalk Mountain and so it's said, paid cash. Today the two ranches carved out of those 17 sections belong to their adopted children and their families.
For the remainder of their lives together and for the rest of Sherwood's after his wife died, and his second wife, Ruth, a large portion of their wealth was set aside to care for children in need of special services, children born of neglect, ignorance, abuse and abandonment.
Foster's Home was established in the single building on Graham Street in 1958 and since the modest beginning more than 2,000 children have been cared for there. These children are very, seldom orphans. They come to the home from troubled backgrounds, wounded, from sexual, emotional, or physical abuse. Many times they are children of a single parent. Sometimes they have been "dumped" on their grand parents who are unable to care for them.
"I remember one night when we got a call about a brother and sister, they were about 5 and 8 years old," Boone looks thoughtful and then continues. "The caseworker brought them to the front door and there they stood, bewildered, nervous, unsure about themselves and what was expected. The oldest child clutched a small brown paper bag and in that bag was everything in the world that belonged to these two beautiful little kids! Boone paused and visibly emotional, went on. "Can you imagine what that did to these children? To stand on a stranger's doorstep with all your possessions in a small paper bag?"
Building self esteem is one goal of the family teachers in the cottages at Foster's. A family atmosphere is maintained as close as possible. All the boys and girls on this campus are in school and since they will be living and working in the general world, attend public schools.
Cottage parents also believe in setting certain rules or standards of behavior and assessing penalies for failure. "We know that children prefer to have rules laid down for them and to be punished for violations if caught." said director Gene Boone. We have a structured environment here. We believe that this environment builds a foundation for these children who come in at risk. If you tell a child, 'You make your own choice. I'm not having anything to do with it.' What you are in reality are saying is, 'I don't care anything about you. Do as you please because I don't care."
Boone said, "We have a program called, The Achievers. Everyone wants to be an achiever so we are able, through a co-op with the school district, to have masters level instructors come to our campus and direct our boys and girls toward better grades. There is no charge for this special instruction and the program has been wonderful for our boys and girls. Last year, out of 40 students, there was only one failure, with a campus average of 86.4."
In addition to the main campus in Stephenville, Foster's care for children was extended more than a year ago to the W.P. and Lucille Brummett Youth Ranch near Hico. The Brummett's left the 300 acre ranch to Foster's Home, provided that the foundation provide a ranch atmosphere for boys from troubled homes. An additional 450 acres was purchased by the foundation and added to the ranch. In August, 1996 the first cottage was dedicated. Presently a married couple live there with 8 boys and plans been drawn for another cottage to be built soon. The ranch will provide an educational atmosphere in a different setting and will include care for girls.
There is much more to the Foster's Home than a facility to care for children, although that in itself would certainly be enough. In 1993 The Cross Timbers Crisis center was having a rough time with funding. Gene Boone was head of the United Way that year and he felt that the Crisis Center was badly needed, so he set out to get the necessary funds. The Board at Foster Home voted to move the Crisis Center into a building they owned across Highway 108 from the campus, named the Pittman Center. The Cross Timbers Crisis Center is funded by Victims of Crime, United Way, and other grants.
This building, where the Center has been operating, will be demolished to make room for a retirement center that Foster's is building so Crisis Center has been moved to temporary quarters. As the population of Erath County has grown, so have problems in families. 396 cases, mostly family violence, were treated at the center this past year.
Planning has been underway for a retirement center to be built across 108, from Foster's, providing a comfortable place for older persons who are still able to care for themselves. The facility will provide three meals a day and all services needed. Foster Home Foundation will fund the project, with construction to begin soon.
Support for Foster's Home comes from more than 300 Churches of Christ across Texas. In addition there are many gifts in the form of memorials, special contributions and fund raisers. Five years ago the NFL referees held a golf tournament and auction to benefit Foster's Home in the Metroplex. They have continued to sponsor this yearly event and this past July netted $40,000 for the children.
Costs for each child in the care of Foster's is $61.49 per day. With this year's budget at $1,400,000. Children have a complete gym and enclosed swimming pool on campus with a two bay automotive repair shop, carpentry shop, and livestock barn for 4-H and FFA projects. The Home raises all the beef used to feed the children on land at the main campus.
Expansion of facilities on the main campus will begin in January and include 3500 more square feet in the administration building and three more cottages for 24 boys and girls.
Foster's provides social workers and licensed professional councilors who go to the homes where children are at risk and attempt to help the family situation so the children may remain in the home. Last year more than 150 families benefited from this effort. Foster's also licenses families in the area to care for troubled children in their own homes. There are a few adoptions from Foster's but generally there are still family ties to the children, so adoptions are limited.
Both Gene and Charmayne Boone have 30 years experience in child care. They came to Stephenville from Abilene Boys Ranch and began work at Foster's, January l, 1987. As Executive Director, Gene Boone has helped the program grow and expand with no end in sight.
"Kids really do want to please adults," Boone said, "only sometimes adults have a hard time conveying just what it takes. We try to teach parenting skills along with everything else and in each cottage we make a real effort to duplicate life in a functioning home."
Boone stood up and looked out the office window toward the playground, loud with after school activity. " The other day the door opened and a young man and his bride came in. He said they lived in Oklahoma City and that they were passing through Stephenville on their way to visit relatives. He said that he lived here at Foster's Home as a child and he just wanted to bring his wife by to show her where he grew up."
His words were reward enough for Gene Boone.