There are many heroes who help make our world a better or safer place.  Without question, my parents are my biggest heroes, and I can give you over 100  reasons why.  I hope this blog can help tell their story... 

My parents are John (Jack) and Phyllis Endres, also known as Nana and Papa to over 100 foster children they have had in their
care since the early 80's when they somehow came upon and watched a talk show one afternoon.  They are in their early 70's right now and currently have  3 foster children in their care right now.

 

The boy on the right, they have had for over 2 years.. He is unfortunately a child who is, what I will say , lost in the system. I can assure you he is the happiest young boy in the world right now, but no one really knows what his future will hold, and that's sad.

The boy on the left is a child who is in need of special care.  The drugs his mother took has harmed his development and they have physical therapists which come to their home and work with him. He is progresssing well, but still struggles and no one really knows right now how this will affect his future.

The newborn in the middle is a beautiful baby that just had the misfortune of having very poor parents who could not currently maintain a home that is safe for this one, and her 5 other sibblings.  The mother is a loving mother who is need of some help, and there is a very good chance she will be reunited with her family in time.  For now she is in good care.

This single photo is a great representation of the varied situations each child that has come into their home faces.  Each one has a different story, but they all are loved the same in this home.

My parents for many children have had to go battle their own agencies that are in charge of the children, they have gone before judges, in courts, trying to do everything they can, for what is the best interest of the children in their care. The have won some great battles and sadly have lost some too.  While they do get a certain amount of money from the state toward caring for the child, it is never really enough, and I know that many expenses have been covered by my parents over the years.

I was working at my first job out of college when I got word from them that were going to try and be foster parents.  I was shocked to say the least, even back then they were not young.  But they began with a beautiful baby named Candice.. and from there ..well lets say things kind of grew....
 

Foster Children they cared for when they first started are now graduating college.  They often get letters from some of the children, or their parents, who ultimately adopted them.  Some children are reunited with reformed parents, or placed with other relatives, others are adopted, after long drawn periods that ther real parents continue to mess their lives up and ultimately lose their child. And sadly some never are adopted or reunited but remain in foster care until they are adults.

There have been many wonderful happy ending stories I could share with you, and here is one.  These 2 beautiful children were not brother and sister at birth, but are now.  Young neighboors of my parents, with their help, were able to permanently adopt 2 of the children that were in my parents care.  Both children now are loved and well taken care of ,and now have a family they can call their own.  There names are Robbie and Andrea and I had a chance to see them this Christmas.
 

For a long time, I tried to talk them into taking a break from it, and just go and enjoy their retirement.  It has fallen on deaf ears.  They love it too much and I know the only thing that will eventually make them give it up is some kind of serious health issue that come their way.  They usually take one 7-10 day vacation and usually 1 long weekend vacation per year. 

My Dad usually is the one who gets up in the middle of the night to feed the newborns and my mom has the brunt of the care while he is at work... did I mention he still works about 20-30 hrs per week at a Ace Hardware store in their town.

The only real formal recognition that they have recevied is the magazine article where some of the quotations above were taken from.  They have never sought any recognition for what they do.  But I thought it would be nice to kind of honor them here.

I hope that maybe their story may inspire others who perhaps considered being foster parents, or consider adopting a foster child, to look closer at doing it. There is a real need out there for foster parents.

I guess if you really thought about it, many more lives than  these 100 or so kids will be postively impacted as a result of the sacrifice and dedication these two heroes have given over the last 25 years or so.  If each one of these kids, when they grow up, have a child or 2 of their own, I'd like to think, at least a little part of that happened, as a result of the postive impact they have had in these childrens lives....and that is why they are my heroes.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.


-The magazine exerpts/and photo  were from a magazine article that was written about them by Tom Turner of the Columbia County Magazine, May 2007, Spinnaker Publishing, LLC.

-The photo of Robbie and Andrea were used  with permission by their parents.