The Journey: A Foster-to-Adopt Story

Tiny two-year-old Bella came into foster care and struggled with words, she did not respond when people called her name, did not smile, and would not look people in the eye. This precious little girl was still drinking from a bottle, had no hair, and behaved more like an infant. Pathway’s support team worked with her foster family as Bella was diagnosed with autism.

Thanks to YOU Bella is growing, changing, and thriving! Bella has made tremendous progress in her speech and overall emotion regulation. She continues to learn more words and how to express herself with the help of occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy. Bella even goes to an integrated preschool where she excels and has gained much better social skills.

AND YOUR support of Pathway let Bella find her FOREVER family this past March!

Bella’s adoptive mom, Hailea shared,

“We’re The Carters & have been a foster family for 2 years. We have learned a lot and are thankful for the journey that has led to meeting our daughter, Bella!

My husband and I chose to become foster parents after a lengthy time of trying to start a family. After failed fertility treatments, we decided to look into private adoption. We still didn’t feel comfortable with this route and decided to look into foster care. We had no exposure to foster care prior to this.

We attended a Q&A session at Pathway one weekend and asked ALL the questions. We felt led to complete foster training and get licensed. About 10 days after being licensed, we were asked to do respite for a family.

Respite turned into a change in placement and then turned into an adoption that we just finalized in March! Fostering and fostering-to-adopt has been eye-opening and we’ve learned so much!”

Your support has given children like Bella a soft landing spot to pick up the broken pieces of their lives.

Interesting in making a difference in a foster child’s life? Reach out TODAY! 330-818-0444 or shenry@pathwaycfc.org