Annette ... plus four
Annette’s always had a soft spot in her heart for children, particularly the abandoned and abused. Even as a child, she dreamed of working in an orphanage. But her dream turned into so much more.
Now a Licensing Supervisor with Children’s Home Society of Florida, Annette protects kids by finding loving foster families to provide the guidance, structure and stability they desperately need. But her calling is more than professional – it’s personal.
"I love having kids around, I love trying to give them a better life,” Annette says. “I like to show them what a family’s supposed to be, to give them some stability.”
As a foster parent, she’s nurtured more than 50 children over the past decade; though she knew she was to provide only temporary care, some children could never safely return to their biological parents. But once in Annette’s family, they were home.
Annette remembers picking up Johnny from the neonatal unit – her first foster newborn – on her birthday. They bonded during his drug withdrawals, and she vowed to love and protect him, to shield him from ever again feeling such pain. After adopting him, she was determined to keep her promise.
When Jayna arrived at Annette’s, she was to stay for only a short while. Soon, though, Annette began the adoption process. And when young Deondrae joined their growing family, Annette provided the patience and stability he needed.
Finally came Freddie; after Annette brought him home from the hospital, she says, “he never left!”
While Annette’s family has grown by four, the difference she’s made in children’s lives can never be measured. “You want everybody to be part of a family,” Annette says. “At work, I try to place kids in a family, and when I go home, my kids are finally in a family.”
Get to know some of our other wonderful forever families
Pat and Kari ... plus seven
Ron and Violet ... plus seven
Bruce and Kathie ... plus three
Annette ... plus four
Henry and Melanie ... plus three
Allan and Laura ... plus three
Lenny and Candie ... plus three
Janet ... plus one
Daralyn ... plus seven
Lisa and Todd ... plus seven