“David is our greatest joy and a blessing to our family,” proclaimed Edwin and Elizabeth, who started fostering their youngest at four months and is in the process of adopting him. With two loving parents and four foster siblings, Serenity, Grace, Lydia, and Edwin, Jr., playing their role in caring for two year old David, the young boy is experiencing a limitless future that ordinarily wouldn’t have been available to him. When a child is placed into the foster care system during a time of crisis, he enters an unknown environment, away from every person and place he’s ever known. The child may move many times in his lifetime without having any one place to call their home or one nurturing group to call their family. HeartShare St. Vincent’s focuses on placing children in pre-adoptive homes, like the home of Edwin and Elizabeth, so that children experience stability and love in their formative years.

David was born chemically dependent and premature, said to have fit in the palm of a hand. From four months old, the family nurtured David, seeing him physically grow, his motor coordination improve, his cognitive understanding become clearer, and exceed developmental milestones in picking up sign language and a bit of Spanish from his siblings. The family also works consistently to keep David connected to his birth mother. “If we don’t keep in touch with her, nobody wins. We want David to know and have a good relationship with his mother,” his parents explained. Elizabeth and Edwin, who lost their home in Superstorm Sandy and already have four biological children, are thrilled to adopt David and possibly keep their home open to other foster children. “People don’t realize what a difference you can make in a child’s life. It doesn’t take that much—just open hearts and open minds.”